OF  THB 

UNIVERSITY 


' 


OF  THB 

UNIVERSITY 


THE    LIFE 


PUBLIC   SERVICES 


HOEATIO    SETMOTJE: 


TOGETHER  WITH    A 


COMPLETE  AND  AUTHENTIC  LIFE 


FRANCIS   P.  BLAIR,  JR. 


BY 


JAMES  D.  McCABE,  JR. 


W.KTurner 

NEW  YORK: 

UNITED  STATES  PUBLISHING  COMPAISTY,  411  BECOME  STREET. 

CINCINNATI,  O. ;    CHICAGO,  ILL.  ;    ST.  LOUIS,  MO. ;    ATLANTA,  QA. 
JONES  BROTHERS  &  CO. 

SAN  FRANCISCO,  CAL.  :    H.  H.  BANCROFT  &  CO. 
1868. 


7 

Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1868,  by 

JOHN    F.    TROW, 

In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District 'Court  of  the  United  States  fo\  tne 
Southern  District  of  New  York. 


THE  TROW  A  SMITH 

BOOK  MANUFACTURING  COMPANY 

46,  48  ft  60  Greene  Street,  N,  T. 


TO  THOSE 

WHO   LOVE  CONSTITUTIONAL  J^IBERTY, 

THESE     HISTORIES 

OF 

THEIR    BRAVEST    DEFENDERS 
ARE  DEDICATED. 


PREFACE 


a  citizen  of  the  Republic  is  presented  to  the 
people  for  election  by  them  to  the  highest  public  posi 
tion  in  their  gift,  it  is  eminently  proper  that  they 
should  know  the  events  of  his  previous  life,  in  order 
that  they  may  be  enabled  to  form  from  them  an  intel 
ligent  opinion  as  to  his  qualifications  for  the  position 
to  which  he  aspires.  Especially  is  it  important  that 
they  should  have  this  knowledge  when  it  is  proposed 
to  place  him  at  the  head  of  the  nation  in  a  time  like  the 
present,  when  the  country,  almost  on  the  brink  of  ruin, 
requires  in  its  Chief  Magistrate  not  only  personal 
purity  and  political  integrity,  but  also  the  highest  and 
most  profound  wisdom,  and  the  greatest  and  most 
unwavering  firmness, — a  wisdom  which  shall  fore- 
see  and  provide  against  the  dangers  which  threaten 
our  institutions  and  prosperity,  and  a  firmness  which, 
resisting  all  the  temptations  of  a  selfish  ambition,  shall 
keep  the  Republic  true  to  itself  and  to  its  God-given 
mission. 

The   author  believes  that   the   Democratic  party 
have  presented  such  a  man  to  the  suffrages  of  the 


VI  PREFACE. 

country  in  their  nomination  of  Mr.  Seymour,  and  he 
has  endeavored  to  make  this  book  a  work  which  shall 
place  within  the  reach  of  all,  a  brief,  comprehensive,  and 
convenient  record  of  the  services  upon  which  the  Demo 
cracy  base  their  estimate  of  their  leader,  in  the  coming 
contest  He  has  carefully  refrained  from  intruding 
his  own  opinions  upon  the  reader,  and  his  aim  has 
been  to  express  the  view  taken  by  the  majority  of  the 
Democratic  party  with  regard  to  the  questions  herein 
discussed. 

It  seemed  but  just  to  include  in  the  book,  a  history 
of  the  life  of  the  candidate  of  the  party  for  the  Vice- 
Presidency,  as  a  work  of  this  character  would  be  incom 
plete  without  it.  The  Vice-Presidency  has  become  of 
late  years,  more  prominent  and  more  important  in  the 
estimation  of  the  public  than  in  times  gone  by,  and 
the  people  have  been  taught  that  it  is  of  vital  conse 
quence  to  choose  their  high  officers  in  such  a  manner, 
that  if,  in  the  Providence  of  God,  the  country  is  at 
any  time  deprived  of  its  Executive,  his  Constitutional 
successor  may  be  a  man  capable  of  discharging  the 
duties  of  the  position.  The  Democratic  party,  fully 
realizing  this,  have  chosen  for  the  second  place  in  the 
Government  the  man  best  fitted  for  it — one  whose 
merits  as  a  statesman  are  equalled  only  by  his  genius 
as  a  soldier,  whose  courage  and  integrity,  both  per 
sonal  and  political,  are  without  question,  and  whose 


PREFACE.  yii 

devotion  to  the  great  principles  of  the  Constitution  has 
been  attested  upon  many  a  hard-fought  field. 

With  such  leaders,  and  under  the  inspiration  of 
such  principles  as  are  set  forth  in  its  platform,  the 
Democratic  party  enters  upon  the  present  campaign, 
with  a  confidence  which  is  the  sure  harbinger  of  success. 
It  cannot  fail,  for,  as  its  most  eloquent  historian*  de 
clares,  "  It  represents  the  great  principles  of  progress. 
It  is  onward  and  outward  in  its  movements.  It  has  a 
heart  for  action,  and  motives  for  a  world.  It  consti 
tutes  the  principle  of  diffusion,  and  is  to  humanity 
what  the  centrifugal  force  is  to  the  revolving  orbs  of 
the  universe.  What  motion  is  to  them,  democracy  is  to 
principle.  It  is  the  soul  of  action.  It  conforms  to 
the  providence  of  God.  It  has  confidence  in  man  and 
an  abiding  reliance  in  his  high  destiny.  It  seeks  the 
largest  liberty,  the  greatest  good,  and  the  surest  hap 
piness.  It  aims  to  build  up  the  great  interests  of  the 
many,  to  the  least  detriment  of  the  few.  It  remem 
bers  the  past,  without  neglecting  the  present.  It  estab 
lishes  the  present,  without  fearing  to  provide  for  the 
future.  It  cares  for  the  weak,  while  it  permits  no 
injustice  to  the  strong.  It  conquers  the  oppressor, 
and  prepares  the  subjects  of  tyranny  for  freedom. 
It  melts  the  bigot's  heart  to  meekness,  and  reconciles 

*  Nalium  Capen.    His  "  History  of  Democracy  of  the  United  States," 
is  soon  to  be  published. 


Vlll  PEEFACE. 

his  mind  to  knowledge.  It  dispels  the  clouds  of 
ignorance  and  superstition,  and  prepares  the  people 
for  instruction  and  self-respect.  It  adds  wisdom  to 
legislation,  and  improved  judgment  to  government. 
It  favors  enterprise  that  yields  a  reward  to  the  many, 
and  an  industry  that  is  permanent  It  is  the  pioneer 
of  humanity,  the  conservator  of  nations.  It  fails  only 
when  it  ceases  to  be  true  to  itself.  Vox  populi  Vox 
Dei  has  proved  to  be  both  a  proverb  and  a  prediction." 

Copious  extracts  from  the  letters,  speeches  and 
messages,  of  Governor  Seymour  and  General  Blair  are 
given  in  this  book,  in  order  that  the  reader  may 
judge  them  by  their  own  words.  Their  declarations 
are  plain  and  not  susceptible  of  misinterpretation, 
and  are  believed  to  be  more  interesting  to  the  general 
reader  than  a  mass  of  mere  details  could  be. 

The  book  is  given  to  the  public  with  the  hope 
that  it  may  aid,  in  some  degree,  in  bringing  about, 
in  November  next,  the  election  of  men  who  desire 
the  perpetuation  and  not  the  destruction  of  our  Con 
stitution  and  system  of  Government. 

J.  D.  McC.,  JR. 

YOKK,  August  1st,  1868. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

The  Seymour  Family— Birth  of  Horatio  Seymour — Childhood— Educa 
tion — Decides  to  adopt  the  Law  as  his  Profession — Early  Studies — 
Entrance  upon  his  Duties — Death  of  his  Father  and  Father-in-Law — 
Early  Political  Life — Attaches  himself  to  the  Democratic  Party — 
Elected  to  the  Legislature  of  New  York — His  Services  in  that  Body — 
His  Success  in  Public  Life — Elected  Mayor  of  Utica — Reflected  to 
the  Legislature — Retires  to  Private  Life  and  resumes  the  Prac 
tice  of  the  Law — The  Erie  Canal  Question — Nominated  for  Governor 
— Defeated— Elected  Governor  of  New  York — His  Course  as  Gov 
ernor  Sustained  by  the  Court  of  Appeals 17 

CHAPTER  II. 

Mr.  Seymour  is  Re-nominated  for  Governor  by  the  Democracy — Is  De 
feated  by  Mr.  Clark — Resumes  the  Practice  of  the  Law — His  interest 
in  Public  Affairs — His  Marked  Success  as  a  Public  Man — Services  in 
Behalf  of  the  Democratic  Party — Attends  the  Charleston  Convention 
— Declines  to  be  a  Candidate  for  the  Presidency — Services  during  the 
Presidential  Campaign  of  1860— The  Secession  troubles — Mr.  Sey 
mour  urges  a  Policy  of  Conciliation  towards  the  South— The  Demo 
cratic  Convention  at  Tweddle  Hall — Character  of  the  Convention — 
Remarks  of  Judge  Parker — Resolutions  Adopted — Noble  Speech  of 
Governor  Seymour — His  views  upon  the  Condition  of  the  Country — 
A  Plea  for  Justice  and  Humanity — A  Patriotic  Declaration — Mr. 
Seymour's  Course  respecting  the  Troubles — The  War — Mr.  Seymour 
Retires  to  his  Home— Efforts  in  Behalf  of  the  Union  Cause— Serves 
as  a  Member  of  the  County  Committee  for  raising  and  equipping 
troops — Summary  of  his  Views  respecting  the  "War,  as  drawn  from 
his  Public  Speeches 25 


X  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTEE  III. 

The  War  divides  the  people  of  the  North  into  two  great  Parties — Politi 
cal  affairs  in  New  York — Meeting  of  the  Democratic  Convention — 
Mr.  Seymour  Nominated  for  Governor — Platform  of  the  New  York 
Democracy — The  Republicans  Nominate  General  Wadsworth — Mr. 
Seymour  is  elected — His  Inaugural  Address — His  Message  to  the 
Legislature — Review  of  the  Condition  of  the  Country — He  Points 
out  the  Causes  of  the  War— Shows  the  Dangers  which  Threaten 
the  Country — Denunciation  of  the  Excesses  of  the  Republicans — It 
is  not  too  Late  to  Save  the  Union — Errors  of  the  Administration — 
Danger  to  be  Apprehended  from  a  Consolidated  Government — Out 
rages  Practiced  upon  the  People — Martial  Law — The  Union  is  In 
dissoluble — How  it  may  be  Saved — Eloquent  Peroration — Trouble  in 
the  Legislature — A  dignified  Message — Governor  Seymour's  Speech  in 
New  York,  July  4th,  1863 — Review  of  the  State  of  the  Country — 
Eloquent  Appeal  for  Mercy  and  Conciliation — Comments  upon  the 
Address — Mr.  Seymour's  Wisdom  and  Far-sightedness — His  Candor 
and  Intrepidity  the  best  proofs  of  his  Patriotism 39 


CHAPTER  IV. 

Invasion  of  Pennsylvania  by  General  Lee — Alarm  in  the  North— Excite 
ment  in  New  York— The  Government  Calls  for  Troops  from  the 
Border  States — The  President  asks  New  York  for  aid — Prompt 
Reply  of  Governor  Seymour— Orders  of  the  State  Authorities — Pa 
triotic  Response  of  the  Troops — Aid  sent  to  the  Border — Statement 
of  Troops  sent  by  New  York — Energy  of  Governor  Seymour — Re 
publican  Testimony  on  this  point— Messages  from  the  Government 
— The  President  and  Secretary  of  War  thank  Governor  Seymour 
for  the  Prompt  Assistance  given  by  him — Testimony  of  Mr.  Lincoln-r— 
The  Official  Correspondence  between  the  State  and  Federal  Author 
ities— Incontestible  Proofs— Statement  of  the  "  Philadelphia  Age  "-— 
Mr.  Seymour  Triumphantly  Vindicated  by  his  own  acts  from  the 
Calumnies  of  his  Enemies.  ...  59 


CHAPTER  V. 

A  Brief  History  of  the  Conscription— The  System  Opposed  to  the  Spirit 
of  the  Constitution — Congress  Passes  a  Conscription  Law — Feeling 


CONTENTS.  XI 

of  the  People  of  the  Union  upon  the  Subject — Unjustifiable  Course 
of  the  Administration  Towards  the  Opponents  of  its  Policy— No 
Necessity  for  a  Draft — Views  of  the  Democratic  Party  as  Stated  by 
the  "New  York  World1'— The  Law  to  be  Tested  in  the  Courts— The 
Government  Decides  to  Enforce  the  Draft  in  New  York  City  during 
the  Absence  of  the  State  Troops — Notice  by  the  Provost- Marshal — 
Indignation  of  the  Citizens — The  Draft  Begun — The  First  Day's' 
Proceedings — Hostility  of  the  "Working  Men  to  the  Draft — Secret 
Meetings  in  the  Laboring  Districts — Re^is  ance  Letermined  upon — 
Monday,  July  13th — Resumption  of  the  Draft — The  First  Blow — 
Attack  upon,  and  Destruction  of  the  Provost-Marshal's  Office — The 
Riot  Begun— Heroism  of  the  Firemen — Outrages  of  the  Mob — De- 
fenceh  ss  Condition  of  the  City — Weakness  of  the  Authorities — The 
Call  for  Troops— Increase  of  the  Troubles— The  Rioters  Defeat  the 
U.  S.  Marines — Fight  on  Third  Avenue — Burning  of  the  Orphan 
Asylum — Attack  on  the  State  Armory — Gallant  Defence  by  the 
Police — Burning  of  Buildings  by  the  Mob — Attack  on  the  '"  Tribune  " 
Office — Rioters  Defeated  by  the  Police — Outrages  upon  the  Negroes 
— Heroic  Conduct  of  the  Police — Arrival  of  Governor  Seymour  in  the 
City — His  Proclamation  to  the  Rioters — He  Declares  the  City  in  a 
State  of  Insurrection — Progress  of  the  Riot — Attack  on  the  Negro 
Quarters — Murder  of  Colonel  O'Brien — Arrival  of  Troops — The 
Rioters  Defeated  by  the  Military — The  State  Troops  Ordered  Home- 
Speech  of  Governor  Seymour  to  the  Crowd  in  the  Park — Effect  of 
the  Speech — Misrepresentations  by  the  Republican  Press — Disin- 
genuousness  of  the  "  Albany  Evening  Journal " — Course  of  Arch 
bishop  Hughes — His  Speech — Comments — Return  of  the  State 
Troops — The  Riot  put  down — Slanders  of  the  Republican  Party — 
Governor  Seymour's  Course  Vindicated 75 


CHAPTER  VI. 

The  Draft  Suspended  in  New  York  City — Injustice  of  the  Government  to 
New  York — Governor  Seymour  Calls  the  Attention  of  the  President 
to  the  Inequality  in  the  Apportionment  of  Conscripts — He  Asks  that 
the  Draft  be  Suspended  Temporarily  in  the  State — Justice  of  his 
Demand — Reply  of  the  President — A  Weak  Argument — Refuses  to 
Suspend  the  Draft— Correspondence  between  the  Governor  and  the 
President — Preparations  for  Resuming  the  Draft  in  New  York  City 
and  Brooklyn — Letter  of  General  Dix  to  the  Governor — Correspond- 


Xll  CONTENTS. 

ence  between  Governor  Seymour  and  General  Dix — Bold  and  In 
dependent  Course  of  the  Governor — He  Maintains  the  Independence 
of  his  State,  and  fastens  the  Odium  and  Responsibility  of  the  Draft 
upon  the  Administration — Proclamation  by  the  Governor— Governor 
Seymour's  Course  Dictated  by  an  Exalted  Patriotism — Review  of  his 
Acts — His  Course  Sustained  by  the  Commission  Appointed  by  the 
War  Department — He  Receives  the  Thanks  of  the  Legislature — 
Letter  Relating  to  the  Enlistment  of  Colored  Troops 113 


CHAPTER  VII. 

Meeting  of  the  Democratic  Convention  of  the  State — Pledges  its  Support 
to  the  Government  in  all  Lawful  Measures  for  bringing  the  War  to 
a  Successful  Close — Mass  Meeting  at  Albany  to  Consider  the  Un 
lawful  -Arrest  of  Mr.  Vallandigham — Letter  of  the  Governor — Pro- 
..  ceedings  of  the  Meeting — Correspondence  of  the  Committee  with  the 
President— Meetings  throughout  the  State- — Course  of  Governor 
Seymour  Indorsed  by' all — Democratic  Meeting  at  Syracuse — Elo 
quent  Speech  of  Governor  Seymour — A  Plain  Statement  of  Facts — 
Meeting  of  the  Legislature — The  Governor's  Message— Review  of  the 
Draft,  and  his  Action  therein — Statement  of  his  action  during  the 
Riots — Eloquent  Appeal  for  th^  Unien — Efforts  of  the  Governor 
in  Behalf  of  the  Credit  of  the  State— His  Success 135 

V. 

CHAPTER,  VIII. 

The  Bogus  Proclamation  of  Mr.  Lincoln — Deception  Practiced  upon  Dem 
ocratic  Newspapers— Suppression  of  the  "World"  and  "Journal  of 
Commerce  " — llighhanded  Measures  of  the  Administration — Gov 
ernor  Seymour's  Action  iti  the  Case — His  Instructions  to  the  District 
Attorney — Action  in  the  Case — Refusal  of  the  Grand  Jury  to  do  its 
Duty — The  Governor's  Instructions  to  Mr.  Hall — Proceedings  against 
General  Dix  and  his  Officers — Trial  of  the  Case  before  Judge  Russell 
— Decision  of  the  Court — The  Sequel — Meeting  of  the  Chicago  Con 
vention — Mr.&ejmour  chosen  Pre>ident  of  that  Body — His  Services 
during  vtfee.  •Pr&Sidential  Campaign — He  Procures  the  Passage  of  a 
Law  for  Collecting  the  Votes  of  the  State  Troops  in  the  Field- 
Statement  of  the  Provisions  of  this  Law — Mr.  Seymour  again  nom 
inated  for  Governor  by  the  Democratic  State  Convention — His  Cir 
cular  to  the  Officers  of  the  New  York  Troops  in  the  Federal  Service 


CONTENTS. 

— His  Anxiety  for  a  Fair  election — Measures  on  the  part  of  the  Gov 
ernment  to  Control  the  Election — The  Eeign  of  Terror — Proclama 
tion  by  the  Governor — The  Election — How  the  Adminietration  Car 
ried  it — Mr.  Seymour  Defeated  by  Mr.  Fenton 1T1 


CHAPTER    IX. 

Efforts  of  the  Governor  to  Secure  a  Fair  Vote  in  the  Army — Alleged 
Fraud  on  the  part  of  State  Agents — Arrest  of  Ferry  and  Donohue — 
They  are  Tried  and  Sentenced  by  a  Military  Commission — Arrest  of 
Colonel  North  and  others — They  are  imprisoned  in  the  Old  Capitol — 
The  Governor  Resolves  to  Defend  their  Rights  as  Citizens  of  New 
York — Commissioners  sent  to  Washington — His  Letter  of  Instruc 
tions — Action  of  the  Commissioners — Their  Interview  with  the  Sec 
retary  of  War — Their  first  Requests  Complied  with — They  Visit  the 
Prisoners — Inhuman  Treatment  of  its  Prisoners  by  the  Administra 
tion — No  Charges  made  against  them — The  Letter  of  the  Commis 
sioners  to  the  Secretary  of  War — Statement  of  the  Case — The  Gov 
ernment  without  Jurisdiction  in  the  matter — Reply  of  the  War  De 
partment — The  Sovereignty  of  New  York  Outraged  by  the  Admin 
istration — Departure  of  the  Commissioners — Persecution  of  Colonel 
North  and  his  Companions — Their  Acquittal  and  Subsequent  cap 
tivity — Slanders  of  the  Republicans  upon  Governor  Seymour — Their 
Shallowness — Mr.  Seymour  Retires  to  Private  Life — The  Democratic 
State  Convention — Tribute  to  President  Johnson — Mr.  Seymour's 
Speech  at  Cooper  Institute  in  June,  1868 — A  Magnificent  Effort — 
Review  and  Denunciation  of  the  Republican  Policy — The  Radicals 
Exposed  to  the  Public  Scorn 189 


CHAPTER  X. 

The  National  Democratic  Convention  of  1868 — Arrival  of  Delegates  in 
New  York — Scenes  in  the  City — Preparations  for  the  Convention — 
Review  of  the  Prospects  of  Candidates— Noble  Letter  from  Mr. 
Pendleton— Mr.  Seymour  Declines  to  be  a  Candidate— The  "  New 
York  Citizen  "  on  Mr.  Seymour— Patriotism  of  the  Pendleton  Men— 
The  Convention — TheNoith  and  South  Renew  the'r  old  Harmony 
—Organization  of  the  Convention— Mr.  Seymour  Chosen  its  Pres 
ident — Reception  by  the  Convention— His  Speech — A  Scathing  Re 
view  of  Radicalism — Adoption  of  the  Platform — Eloquent  Statement 


XIV  CONTENTS. 

of  the  Principles  of  the  Party— Adoption  of  the  "  Two-Thirds  Rule  " 
—The  Nominations— Balloting—A  u  Dead-Lock  "—Withdrawal  of 
Mr.  Pendleton — His  Friends  Insist  upon  the  Nomination  of  Governor 
Seymour — He  Declines  the  Honor — Scene  in  the  Convention — Mr. 
Seymour  is  compelled  to  Submit  to  the  Will  of  the  Party — Enthusi 
asm — He  is  Declared  the  Unanimous  Choice  of  the  Convention  for 
the  Pres'dency — Nomination  of  General  Blair  for  the  Vice-Pres 
idency — Statement  of  the  Ballots  for  President — Final  Adjournment 
of  the  Convention 233 

CHAPTEH  XL 

Mr.  Seymour  Decides  to  Accept  the  Nomination  conferred  upon  him  by 
the  Convention — The  Motives  of  his  Action — Formal  Tender  of  the 
Nomination — Scene  in  Tammany  Hall — Speech  of  General  Morgan 
— Reply  of  Mr.  Seymour — Enthusiasm — Meeting  in  Fourteenth 
Street — Speech  of  Mr.  Seymour — How  the  News  was  received 
throughout  the  Country — Comments  of  the  Press — Tributes  from 
Republicans — Governor  Seymour  returns  Home — Scenes  along  the 
Route — Arrival  in  Utica — His  "Welcome  Home — An  overwhelming 
Demonstration — His  Speech  at  Utica — Retires  to  his  Home— His 
Letter  of  Acceptance 269 


THE  LIFE  AND  PUBLIC  SERVICES 

OF 

HORATIO    SEYMOUR. 


THE    LIFE 

AND 

PUBLIC    SERVICES 

o? 

HORATIO    SEYMOUR. 

CHAPTER  I. 

The  Seymour  Family — Birth  of  Horatio  Seymour — Childhood — Educa 
tion — Decides  to  adopt  the  Law  as  his  Profession — Early  Studies — 
Entrance  upon  his  Duties — Death  of  his  Father,  and  Father-in-Law — 
Early  Political  Life — Attaches  himself  to  the  Democratic  Party — 
Elected  to  the  Legislature  of  New  York — His  Services  in  that  Body — 
His  Success  in  Public  Life — Elected  Mayor  of  Utica — Reflected  to 
the  Legislature — Retires  to  Private  Life,  and  resumes  the  Practice 
of  the  Law — The  Erie  Canal  Question — Nominated  for  Governor — 
Defeated — Elected  Governor  of  New  York — His  course  as  Governor 
sustained  by  the  Court  of  Appeals. 

AMONG  the  original  settlers  of  Connecticut,  was  one 
named  Richard  Seymour,  a  just,  God-fearing  man,  who, 
for  conscience-sake,  followed  the  pious  Hooker  through 
the  untracked  forest,  to  found  for  himself  and  his  pos 
terity  a  home  in  which  they  could  worship  God  after 
the  manner  of  their  fathers,  with  none  to  molest  or 
make  them  afraid.  The  descendants  of  this  good  man 
lived  at  Hartford,  in  the  old  homestead,  until  Moses 
Seymour,  the  fourth  in  descent  from  the  founder  of  the 
family,  grew  to  manhood.  Moses  Seymour  removed 
2 


18  LIFE    OF   HORATIO    SEYMOUR. 

to  Litchfield,  which  he  represented  for  seventeen  years 
in  the  Legislature  of  Connecticut.  He  served  gal 
lantly  through  the  Revolution,  as  a  Major  in  the 
Connecticut  line,  and  established  a  high  reputation 
for  bravery,  efficiency,  and  ability.  He  married  a 
daughter  of  Colonel  Forman,  of  New  Jersey,  a  distin 
guished  officer  of  the  Continental  Army,  and  by  her 
had  five  sons.  The  eldest  of  these  sons,  Henry  Sey 
mour,  was  born  in  1780,  and  upon  attaining  his  ma 
jority,  removed  to  Utica,  in  the  State  of  New  York. 
He  took  a  leading  part  in  the  politics  of  the  day,  and 
was  known  as  a  man  of  fine  abilities  and  unblemished 
integrity.  He  s-erved  for  several  terms  in  the  State 
Legislature,  and  was  for  many  years  Canal  Commis 
sioner.  He  also  acquired  considerable  property,  which 
he  left  to  his  children.  He  was  the  father  of  the  sub 
ject  of  this  memoir. 

HORATIO  SEYMOUR  was  born  at  Pompey,  Onondaga 
County,  New  York,  in  the  year  1811.  He  received  a 
liberal  and  thorough  education  in  the  best  schools  and 
colleges  of  the  State.  No  pains  were  spared  by  his 
parents  to  fit  him  for  taking  a  prominent  position  in 
public  affairs,  to  which  career  he  seems  to  have  been 
devoted  from  his  childhood;  and  their  efforts  met  with 
a  ready  and  earnest  cooperation  on  his  part.  He  was 
a  close  and  diligent  student,  and  being  possessed  of 
fine  natural  abilities,  took  at  once  and  maintained  a 
leading  position  in  his  classes.  He  was  the  best 
speaker,  and  the  readiest  debater  in  College ;  and  was 
always  the  pride  and  boast  of  his  companions  and  pro 
fessors. 


EARLY    MANHOOD.  19 

Young  Seymour  at  an  early  day  decided  to  adopt 
the  law  as  his  profession,  and  his  studies  were  all 
shaped  with  a  view  to  prepare  him  for  it.  Upon  the 
close  of  his  collegiate  course,  he  commenced  the  study 
of  the  law,  which  he  pursued  with  vigor  and  industry. 
So  successful  was  he  in  his  efforts,  that  he  was  ad 
mitted  to  the  bar  when  only  a  little  more  than  twenty 
years  old.  He  at  once  entered  upon  the  practice  of 
his  profession  in  the  city  of  Utica.  The  prospect  before 
him  was  very  flattering,  and  he  had  every  reason  to 
expect  an  immediate  and  brilliant  success;  but  the 
death  of  his  father,  occurring  about  this  period,  com 
pelled  him  to  give  the  greater  portion  of  his  time  to 
the  task  of  settling  the  large  and  somewhat  compli 
cated  estate  which  Henry  Seymour  left  behind  him. 
These  duties  were  so  engrossing  and  numerous  as  to 
compel  him  to  relinquish  his  profession  for  the  while. 
Mr.  John  li.  Bleecker,  his  wife's  father,  also  died  about 
this  time ;  and  Mr.  Seymour  was  called  upon  to  settle 
his  estate,  which,  together  with  his  father's,  occupied 
his  whole  time  and  attention.  Several  years  were  de 
voted  to  these  matters,  which  were  at  length  brought 
to  a  successful  close.  Mr.  Seymour,  meanwhile,  kept 
steadily  in  view  the  great  career  he  had  marked  out 
for  himself;  and  realizing  that  he  who  would  lead  men 
must  know  man,  pursued  a  thorough  and  systematic 
course  of  study,  and  after  the  close  of  the  duties  re 
ferred  to  above,  again  entered  upon  the  practice  of  his 
profession. 

In  his  earlier  years  he  took  very  little  active  interest 
in  political  affairs,  though  his  sympathies,  tastes,  and 


20  LIFE    OF    HORATIO    SEYMOUR. 

convictions  led  him  to  vote  with  the  Democratic  party, 
to  which  his  family  had  been  attached  for  several  gen 
erations.  His  social  position,  his  high  personal  char 
acter,  and  his  acknowledged  abilities,  made  him  a 
valuable  acquisition  to  the  party,  and  efforts  were  not 
wanting  on  the  part  of  its  leaders  to  induce  him  to 
enter  actively  into  political  life.  For  some  years  he 
steadily  refused  to  do  this,  but  at  length,  in  the  fall  of 
1842,  when  not  quite  thirty-one  years  of  age,  he  con 
sented  to  accept  the  Democratic  nomination  for  mem 
ber  of  the  Assembly,  in  the  State  Legislature.  At 
this  time  the  Whigs  had  a  decided  majority  in  Utica, 
and  the  Democrats  had  for  some  years  been  unsuccess 
ful  in  their  efforts,  but  notwithstanding  this,  Mr.  Sey 
mour  was  elected  by  a  handsome  majority,  his  per 
sonal  popularity  having  drawn  off  a  large  share  of  the 
Whig  vote  from  the  candidate  of  that  party. 

As  was  to  be  expected,  Mr.  Seymour  took  a  com 
manding  position  in  the  Legislature.  The  Assembly 
at  that  day,  was  no  insignificant  body.  It  contained, 
besides  Mr.  Seymour,  such  men  as  John  A.  Dix, 
Michael  Hoffman,  David  R.  Floyd  Jones,  George  R. 
Davis,  Lemuel  Stetson,  and  Calvin  T.  Hulburd.  The 
session  was  one  of  the  most  memorable  in  the  history 
of  New  York,  and  the  debates  were  marked  by  a  rare 
display  of  ability  and  eloquence.  The  Democrats  were 
largely  in  the  ascendency  in  both  branches  of  the  Leg 
islature,  and  the  measures  of  the  session  were  import 
ant.  The  great  question  of  the  day  was  Michael  Hoff 
man's  famous  bill  for  restoring  the  financial  credit  of 
the  State,  which  was  supported  and  passed  by  the  entire 


ELECTED    TO    THE    LEGISLATURE.  21 

strength  of  the  Democracy.  Mr.  Seymour  engaged 
actively  in  the  labors  of  the  session,  speaking  often  and 
with  great  eloquence  and  force,  and  contributed  in  a 
marked  degree  to  the  character  and  success  of  the  leg 
islation.  He  began  the  session  with  a  fine  local  repu 
tation,  but  when  it  closed  he  had  made  himself  known 
and  honored  all  over  the  State.  His  success  had  been 
even  greater  than  his  warmest  friends  had  predicted, 
and  such  as  very  few  men  have  achieved  during  their 
first  session. 

The  next  spring  Mr.  Seymour  was  elected  Mayor 
of  Utica.  The  Whigs  made  strenuous  efforts  to  de 
feat  him,  and  the  canvass  was  a  warm  one,  but  he  was 
elected  by  a  considerable  majority. 

In  the  fall  of  1843,  he  was  again  elected  a  member 
of  the  Lower  House  of  the  Legislature,  to  which  he  was 
returned  again  in  1844,  and  in  1845.  The  session  of 
1844  was  one  which  will  be  long  remembered  in  New 
York.  The  administration  of  Governor  Bouck  met 
with  a  sharp  opposition  in  the  Legislature,  and  this 
was  the  cause  of  many  exciting  and  skilful  debates. 
In  these  discussions  Mr.  Seymour  was  pitted  against 
the  veteran  Michael  Hoffman,  the  brilliant  leader  of 
the  Assembly,  and  a  most  formidable  antagonist,  but 
he  fought  him  with  such  skill  and  effect  as  to  win  for 
himself  the  enthusiastic  praise  of  his  political  associates, 
and  the  unstinted  admiration  of  his  constituents.  Mr. 
Polk  having  been  elected  to  the  Presidency  by  a  tri 
umphant  Democracy  in  1844,  the  session  of  1845  was 
more  harmonious.  At  this  session  Mr.  Seymour  was 
nominated  by  his  friends  for  the  post  of  Speaker  of  the 


22  LIFE    OF    HORATIO    SEYMOUR. 

Lower  House  of  the  Legislature,  and  after  a  sharp  con 
test,  in  which  he  came  near  being  defeated  in  conse 
quence  of  some  serious  defections  in  his  own  party,  was 
elected  by  a  decisive  majority.  It  was  during  this  ses 
sion  that  Daniel  S.  Dickinson  was  elected  to  the  United 
States  Senate,  and  to  this  election  Mr.  Seymour  con 
tributed  in  a  very  great  degree,  urging  the  choice  of 
Mr.  Dickinson,  and  exerting  his  entire  influence  in 
favor  of  it.  When  the  question  of  calling  a  Convention 
to  amend  the  Constitution  of  the  State  was  brought  up, 
he  spoke  earnestly  and  eloquently  in  favor  of  it,  but  voted 
against  the  bill  for  that  purpose,  as  its  provisions  did 
not  meet  with  his  approval. 

At  the  end  of  this  session,  Mr.  Seymour  retired  to 
private  life,  and  for  the  next  five  years  devoted  himself 
to  the  practice  of  law  in  Utica.  He  took  little  or  no 
part  in  public  matters,  devoting  himself  exclusively  to 
his  private  affairs.  During  this  time  he  acquired  and 
maintained  a  high  reputation  as  a  learned  and  able 
lawyer.  He  extended  the  circle  of  his  acquaintance 
in  other  parts  of  the  State,  the  fame  which  he  had 
acquired  in  the  Legislature  having  made  him  deserved 
ly  popular  with  the  people  everywhere. 

In  1850,  he  returned  to  public  life.  In  that  year, 
the  Legislature  of  New  York  passed  a  bill  for  the  en 
largement  and  improvement  of  the  Erie  Canal,  arid 
for  that  purpose  appropriated  certain  revenues  of  the 
State,  in  direct  violation  of  the  provisions  of  the  Con 
stitution.  This  measure  brought  Mr.  Seymour  again 
into  the  field,  and  was  opposed  and  denounced  by  him 
with  more  than  his  usual  vigor  and  eloquence.  His 


GOVERNOR    OF    NEW    YORK.  23 

opposition  to  it  was  so  marked  and  decided,  that  the 
Democracy  solicited  him  to  become  their  candidate  for 
Governor  of  the  State.  He  accepted  the  nomination, 
and  at  once  entered  upon  the  contest.  His  opponent 
was  Mr.  Washington  Hunt,  a  gentleman  of  great  abil 
ity  and  popularity.  The  election  resulted  as  follows : 

For  Mr.  Hunt,       ....     214,614  votes. 
For  Mr.  Seymour,      .     .     .     214,352     " 

Majority  for  Mr.  Hunt,     .>  262  votes. 

The  fact  that  the  entire  Democratic  ticket,  with  the 
exception  of  Mr.  Seymour,  was  elected,  was  supposed 
by  many  to  be,  in  a  political  sense,  very  damaging 
to  him.  That  this  view  of  the  case  was  not  cor 
rect,  however,  is  shown  by  the  sequel.  In  1852,  in 
spite  of  his  defeat  in  1850,  Mr.  Seymour  was  again 
the  nominee  of  his  party,  and  was  this  time  opposed 
again  by  Governor  Hunt,  the  Whig  candidate,  and 
also  by  Minthorne  Tompkins,  the  Free  Soil  candidate. 
The  canvass  was  a  very  exciting  one,  and  was  con 
ducted  with  great  vigor  arid  ability  by  all  parties. 
The  election  resulted  as  follows : 

For  Mr.  Seymour,     .     .     .     .     264,121  votes. 
For  Mr.  Hunt,     .....     239,736     " 
For  Mr.  Tompkins,   ....       19,299      " 
Seymour's  majority  over  Hunt,      24,385     " 
Seymour's  majority  over  Hunt 

and  Tompkins, 5,086     " 

This  splendid  victory  was  due,  in  a  great  measure, 
to  Mr.  Seymour's  personal  popularity,  and  at  once 


24  LIFE    OF    HORATIO    SEYMOUR. 

silenced  all  those  who  had  predicted  evil  for  him  from 
his  defeat  in  the  previous  canvass.  His  administra 
tion  as  Governor,  now  that  the  heat  and  prejudice  of 
the  times  has  worn  away,  is  admitted  on  all  sides  to 
have  been  marked  by  ability,  discretion,  and  sound 
judgment.  The  chief  measure  of  it  was  his  veto  of 
the  "Maine  Liquor  Law,"  which  had  passed  both 
Houses  of  the  Legislature.  His  course  was  based 
upon  his  conviction  that  the  Legislature  had  no  power 
to  pass  sumptuary  laws,  and  his  judgment  convinced 
him  that  such  a  law  would  be  productive  of  great 
trouble  in  the  State,  and  that  it  would  ultimately  be 
repealed  by  the  people.  His  conduct  occasioned  con 
siderable  surprise  and  feeling,  as  the  veto  was  regarded 
at  the  time  as  a  bold  and  skilful  act,  but  the  course  of 
the  Governor  has  since  been  amply  vindicated  by  a 
formal  decision  of  the  Court  of  Appeals  that  the  Legis 
lature  has  no  power  to  enact  such  a  law. 


CHAPTER  II. 

Mr.  Seymour  is  Re-nominated  for  Governor  by  the  Democracy — Is  De 
feated  by  Mr.  Clark — Resumes  the  Practice  of  the  Law — His  Inter 
est  in  Public  Affairs — His  Marked  Success  as  a  Public  Man — Services 
in  behalf  of  the  Democratic  Party — Attends  the  Charleston  Conven 
tion — Declines  to  be  a  Candidate  for  the  Presidency — Services  dur 
ing  the  Presidential  Campaign  of  1860 — The  Secession  Troubles^ 
Mr.  Seymour  urges  a  Policy  of  Conciliation  towards  the  South — 
The  Democratic  Convention  at  Tweddle  Hall — Character  of  the 
Convention — Remarks  of  Judge  Parker — Resolutions  Adopted — No 
ble  Speech  of  Gov.  Seymour — His  Views  upon  the  Condition  of  the 
Country — -A  Plea  for  Justice  and  Humanity — A  Patriotic  Declaration 
— Mr.  Seymour's  Co.urse  Respecting  the  Troubles — The  "War — Mr. 
Seymour  Retires  to  his  home — Efforts  in  Behalf  of  the  Union  Cause 
— Serves  as  a  Member  of  the  County  Committee  for  Raising  and 
Equipping  Troops — Summary  of  his  Views  Respecting  the  War,  as 
drawn  from  his  Public  Speeches. 

IN  1854,  Mr.  Seymour  was  nominated  by  his  party 
for  reelection  to  the  Gubernatorial  Chair.     This  time 
there  were  four  candidates  in  the  field :  Mr.  Seymour, 
the  regular  Democratic  nominee,  Myron  G.  Clark,  Re 
publican,  Daniel  Ullman,  American,  or  Know  Noth 
ing,  and  Greene  C.  Bronson,  "  Hard-Shell  Democrat." 
This   unfortunate    "  split "  in   the   Democratic   party 
caused  its  defeat.     The  election  resulted  as  follows : 
For  Mr.  Clark,      ....     156,804  votes. 
For  Mr.  Seymour,      .     .     .     156,495      " 
For  Mr.  Ullman,    ....     122,282     " 
For  Mr.  Bronson,       .     .     .       33,850     " 
Mr.   Clark's   majority    over 

Mr.  Seymour,     ....  309     " 


26  LIFE    OF    HORATIO    SEYMOUR. 

After  this  defeat,  Mr.  Seymour  returned  to  the 
practice  of  his  profession  in  Utica.  Though  he  did  not 
present  himself  again  for  some  years  as  a  candidate  for 
office,  he  continued  to  take  a  deep  interest  in  the  wel 
fare  of  the  country  and  the  Democratic  party.  He  was 
regularly  sent  as  a  delegate  to  the  State  and  National 
Conventions  of  the  party,  in  which  his  influence  was 
very  great.  His  high  qualities  of  mind  and  heart  had 
drawn  to  him  at  the  outset  of  his  political  career  a  band 
of  devoted  friends  and  admirers,  and  every  year  only 
served  to  increase  their  numbers,  until  at  length  he 
came  to  be  regarded  as  the  foremost  man  of  his  party 
in  his  own  State,  and  one  of  the  purest  and  most  gifted 
leaders  of  that  party  in  the  Union.  His  views  were 
always  sought  on  all  the  great  questions  of  the  day, 
and  his  voice  was  powerful  in  the  Councils  of  the 
Democracy. 

In  the  Convention  of  1860,  at  Charleston,  when  it 
became  evident  that  the  contest  between  the  friends  of 
Mr.  Douglas  and  those  of  Mr.  Breckenridge  could  not 
be  settled  amicably,  Mr.  Seymour's  name  was  presented 
by  the  Southern  delegates,  with  the  hope^  that  the  two 
wings  of  the  party  would  unite  upon  him  as  a  compro 
mise.  The  measure  might  have  been  crowned  with 
success  but  for  the  opposition  of  the  New  York  dele 
gation,  and  in  consequence  of  this  opposition  Mr.  Sey 
mour  requested  his  friends  to  withdraw  his  name. 

During  the  campaign  of  1860  Mr.  Seymour  sup 
ported  the  regular  Democratic  ticket,  and  when  the 
secession  movement  began  at  once  exerted  himself  to 
procure  a  peaceful  settlement  of  the  difficulty.  He 


THE    SECESSION    TROUBLES.  27 

knew  what  untold  misery  a  civil  war  would  bring  upon 
the  land,  and  he  sought  by  every  means  in  his  power 
to  avert  it.  Though  he  did  not  think  secession  was 
the  proper  course  for  the  South  to  pursue,  he  believed 
that  section  had  just  cause  for  complaint,  and  that  her 
grievances  demanded  redress.  In  view  of  the  excited 
condition  of  both  sections,  however,  and  the  indisposi 
tion  of  either  to  yield  its  claims,  he  thought  that  the 
only  possible  settlement  of  the  troubles  lay  in  a  com 
promise  between  the  sections,  and  he  exerted  himself 
to  bring  about  such  a  measure.  His  whole  effort  was 
to  prevent  the  war,  and  though  he  may  have  erred  in 
some  of  his.  views  respecting  the  questions  at  issue,  the 
people  of  the  country  will  always  remember  with  grati 
tude  the  manly  eiforts  he  made  to  save  them  from  the 
horrors  of  the  late  war.  In  common  with  the  whole 
Democratic  party  of  the  North,  he  urged  the  adoption 
of  measures  of  conciliation  and  peace.  His  efforts 
were  in  vain,  however.  The  extremists  of  the  North 
and  South  applied  themselves  diligently  to  the  task  of 
bringing  on.  the  war,  and  the  labors  of  the  Conservative 
men  of  the  country  were  defeated. 

While  matters  were  in  this  condition  the  Democrat 
ic  State  Central  Committee  of  New  York  issued  a  call 
for  a  Convention,  of  four  delegates  from  each  Assem 
bly  district,  to  be  held  at  Albany  on  the  31st  of  Jan 
uary,  1861,  for  the  purpose  of  considering  the  state 
of  affairs  throughout  the  country.  Mr.  Seymour  was 
sent  to  this  body  as  a  delegate  from  Utica. 

The  Convention  met  at  Tweddle  Hall,  in  Albany, 
on  the  day  appointed.  It  was  the  most  imposing  and 


28  LIFE    OF   HORATIO    SEYMOUR. 

brilliant  political  body  that  ever  assembled  in  the  State. 
Thirty  of  the  delegates  had  held  seats  in  Congress, 
while  one  (Gov.  Seymour)  had  been  Governor  of  the 
State,  and  two  others  the  nominees  of  the  party  for 
that  high  office.  Nor  was  the  Convention  strictly  a 
"Democratic"  body,  though  called  as  such.  Several 
of  its  best  members  had  been  leading  Whigs,  and  some 
were  "  Americans."  All  had  been  drawn  together  by 
the  danger  which  threatened  the  country,  and  they  met 
with  a  solemn  sense  of  the  obligations  which  rested  upon 
them,  to  give  prudent  and  wise  counsel,  and  to  do  noth 
ing  which  should  increase  the  peril  of  the  nation.  Saii- 
ford  E.  Church  called  the  Convention  to  order,  as  tem 
porary  Chairman,  and  a  permanent  organization  was 
speedily  effected  by  the  election  of  Judge  Amasa  J. 
Parker,  of  Albany,  as  President.  Judge  Parker,  on 
taking  the  chair,  said  : 

"  This  Convention  has  been  called  with  no  view  to 
mere  party  objects.  It  looks  only  to  the  great  interests 
of  State.  "We  meet  here  as  conservative  and  repre 
sentative  men,  who  have  differed  among  ourselves  as  to 
measures  of  governmental  policy,  ready,  all  of  them,  I 
trust,  to  sacrifice  such  differences  upon  the  altar  of  our 
common  country.  He  can  be  no  true  patriot  who  is 
not  ready  to  yield  his  own  prejudices,  to  surrender  a 
favorite  theory,  and  to  clip  even  from  his  own  party 
platform,  where  such  omission  may  save  his  country 
from  ruin  otherwise  inevitable. 

"The  people  of  this  State  demand  the  peaceful 
settlement  of  the  questions  that  have  led  to  disunion. 
They  have  a  right  to  insist  that  there  shall  be  concilia- 


OF  THE      J 

tTNIVERSITY 
. 
THE    CONVENTION    AT    ALBANY.  29 

tion,  concession,  compromise.  "While  yet  the  pillars 
of  our  political  temple  lie  scattered  on  the  ground,  let 
them  be  used  to  reconstruct  the  edifice.  The  popular 
sentiment  is  daily  gathering  strength,  and  will  over 
whelm  in  its  progress  alike,  those  who  seek  to  stem  it 
on  the  frail  plank  of  party  platforms  and  those  who 
labor  to  pervert  it  to  mere  party  advantage." 

This  address,  which  clearly  and  simply  states  the 
object  of  the  Convention  and  the  animus  of  its  mem 
bers,  was  greeted  with  cheers.  The  Convention  was 
addressed  by  Governor  Seymour,  the  venerable  ex- 
Chancellor  Walworth,  and  others,  and  unanimously 
adopted  the  following  resolutions  as  the  expression  of 
its  views  respecting  the  national  troubles: 

"  I.  Resolved^  That  the  crisis  into  which  the  coun 
try  has  been  thrown  by  the  conflict  of  sectional  pas 
sions,  and  which  has  already  resulted  in  the  declared 
secession  of  six  States,  and  the  threatened  cooperation 
of  nearly  all  the  other  States  of  the  South  with  them, 
the  Seizure  of  Government  property  and  of  the  Federal 
defences — the  confronting  of  the  disaffected  States  and 
of  the  Federal  Government  in  the  attitude  and  with  the 
armament  of  Civil  War — is  of  such  a  nature  as,  raising 
all  patriotic  citizens  above  the  considerations  of  party, 
should  impel  them  to  the  sacrifices  b}^  which  alone 
these  calamities  may  be  averted  or  their  further  pro 
gress  arrested. 

"  II.  He-solved^  That,  in  the  opinion  of  this  Con 
vention,  the  worst  and  most  ineffective  argument  that 
can  be  addressed  by  the  Confederacy  or  its  adhering 
members  to  the  seceding;  States,  is  Civil  War.  Civil 


30  LIFE    OF    HORATIO    SEYMOUR. 

war  will  not  restore  the  Union,  l)ut  will  defeat  forever, 
its  reconstruction. 

"  III.  Resolved,  That  we  can  look  for  the  restora 
tion  of  the  Union,  and  the  reinvigoration  of  the  Con 
stitution,  only  to  the  continuance  of  that  spirit  of  concil 
iation  and  concession  in  which  they  were  founded  ;  and 
that  there  is  nothing  in  the  nature  of  pending  difficul 
ties  which  does  not  render  it  proper  to  adjust  them  by 
compromises  such  as,  by  the  practice  of  our  Govern 
ment,  have  been  resorted  to  in  the  settlement  of  dis 
puted  claims,  even  with  foreign  nations.  That  while 
our  Government,  believing  its  title  to  the  territories  in 
the  northeastern  and  northwestern  portions  of  the 
Union,  which  were  given  up  to  Great  Britain,  was 
clear  and  unquestionable,  yet  for  the  purpose  of  saving 
the  people  from  the  evils  of  wrar,  surrendered  a  portion 
of  our  original  territory,  and  also  a  part  of  the  Louisi 
ana  purchase,  exceeding  in  value  all  the  domain 
which  the  South  demands,  in  joint  occupation,  having 
conceded  thus  much  to  a  foreign  nation  in  the  interest 
of  peace — it  would  be  monstrous  to  refuse  to  settle 
claims  between  the  people  of  our  own  land,  and  avert 
destruction  from  our  common  country  by  a  similar 
compromise. 

"IV.  Resolved,  That  whereas  it  is  obvious  that 
the  dissolution  of  this  Union  can  only  be  prevented  by 
the  adoption  of  a  policy  which  shall  be  satisfactory  to 
the  Border  States,  it  is  our  duty  to  support  them  in 
their  patriotic  efforts  to  adjust  those  controversies. 
And  inasmuch  as  these  questions  grow  out  of  the  ac 
quisition  of  territories  not  provided  for  by  the  Constitu- 


KESOLUTIONS   ADOPTED.  31 

tion,  and  in  regard  to  which  the  people  of  the  South 
believe  they  are  entitled  to  a  joint  occupancy,  in  person 
and  property,  under  the  Constitution,  and  by  the  decis 
ion  of  the  Courts,  while  on  the  other  hand,  the  dom 
inant  party  at  the  North  claim  that  they  should  be  ex 
cluded  therefrom,  it  is  eminently  fit  that  we  should 
listen  to  the  appeals  of  loyal  men  in  the  Border  States, 
to  dispose  of  this  question  by  one  of  those  measures  of 
compromise  in  the  spirit  of  which  the  Constitution  was 
founded,  and  by  which  all  territorial  questions  have 
from  time  to  time  been  settled. 

"  V.  Resolved,  That  inasmuch  as  the  political  con 
vulsions  which  threaten  the  destruction  of  the  coun 
try,  were  riot  contemplated  at  the  time  of  the  last  elec 
tion,  and  their  continuance  will  be  more  disastrous  to 
the  interests  of  our  citizens,  involving  the  ruin  of  our 
commercial  and  laboring  classes,  and  possibly  carrying 
the  desolation  of  civil  war  into  the  homes  of  our  citi 
zens,  we  hold  that  it  is  their  right  to  be  heard  in  regard 

<->  O 

to  the  adjustment  of  these  difficulties,  (which,  in  our 
opinion,  can  at  present  best  be  settled  by  the  adoption 
of  the  Crittenden  proposition  or  some  other  measure 
acceptable  to  the  Border  States,)  and  that  a  Committee 
of  five  be  appointed,  to  prepare,  in  behalf  of  this  Con 
vention,  a  suitable  memorial  to  the  Legislature,  urging 
them  to  submit  the  Crittenden  Compromise  to  a  vote 
of  the  electors  of  the  State,  at  the  earliest  practicable 
day." 

Mr.  Seymour  spoke  at  length  in  support  of  these 
resolutions.  After  showing  clearly  and  irrefutably 
that  the  Republican  party,  and  especially  their  leaders 


32  LIFE    OF   HORATIO    SEYMOUR. 

in  Congress,  were  responsible  for  the  existing  troubles, 
he  said : 

"  What  spectacle  do  we  present  to-day  ?  Already 
six  States  have  withdrawn  from  this  confederacy. 
Revolution  has  actually  begun.  The  term  '  secession  ' 
divests  it  of  none  of  its  terrors,  nor  do  arguments  to 
prove  secession  inconsistent  with  our  Constitution  stay 
its  progress,  or  mitigate  its  evils.  All  virtue,  patriot 
ism,  and  intelligence,  seem  to  have  fled  from  our 
National  Capitol ;  it  has  been  well  likened  to  the  con 
flagration  of  an  asylum  for  madmen — some  look  on 
with  idiotic  imbecility  ;  some  in  sullen  silence ;  and 
some  scatter  the  firebrands  which  consume  the  fabric 
above  them,  and  bring  upon  all  a  common  destruction. 
Is  there  one  revolting  aspect  in  this  scene  which  has 
not  its  parallel  at  the  Capitol  of  your  country  ?  Do 
you  not  see  there  the  senseless  imbecility,  the  garru 
lous  idiocy,  the  maddened  rage,  displayed  with  regard 
to  petty  personal  passions  and  party  purposes,  while 
the  glory,  the  honor,  and  the  safety  of  the  country  are 
all  forgotten  ?  The  same  pervading  fanaticism  has 
brought  evil  upon  all  the  institutions  of  our  land.  Our 
churches  are  torn  asunder  and  desecrated  to  partisan 
purposes.  The  wrongs  of  our  local  legislation,  the 
growing  burdens  of  debt  and  taxation,  the  gradual 
destruction  of  the  African  in  the  Free  States,  which  is 
marked  by  each  recurring  census,  are  all  due  to  the 
neglect  of  our  own  duties,  caused  by  the  complete  absorp 
tion  of  the  public  mind  by  a  senseless,  unreasoning 
fanaticism.  The  agitation  of  the  question  of  Slavery 
has  thus  far  brought  greater  social,  moral,  and  legisla- 


A   NOBLE    SPEECH.  33 

live  evils  upon  the  people  of  the  free  States  than  it  has 
upon  the  institutions  of  those  against  whom  it  has 
been  excited.  The  wisdom  of  Franklin  stamped  upon 
the  first  coin  issued  by  our  government,  the  wise  motto, 
'  Mind  your  business ! '  The  violation  of  this  homely 
proverb,  which  lies  at  the  foundation  of  the  doctrines 
of  local  rights,  has,  thus  far,  proved  more  hurtful  to 
the  meddlers  in  the  affairs  of  others  than  to  those  against 
whom  this  pragmatic  action  is  directed." 

He  then  proceeded  to  show  that  the  North  had 
always  received  the  greater  share  in  the  division  of  the 
Territory  of  the  Union,  and  that  the  claims  of  the 
South  were  just  and  reasonable.  He  argued  that  the 
differences  between  the  sections  ought  to  be  settled  by 
a  compromise — and  declared  that  there  were  but  two 
alternatives,  compromise  or  civil  war.  Said  he : 

"We  are  advised  by  the  conservative  States  of 
Virginia  and  Kentucky,  that,  if  force  is  to  be  used,  it 
must  be  exerted  against  the  united  South.  It  would 
be  an  act  of  folly  and  madness,  in  entering  upon  this 
contest,  to  underrate  our  opponents,  and  thus  subject 
ourselves  to  the  disgrace  of  defeat  in  an  inglorious  Avar- 
fare.  Let  us  also  see  if  successful  coercion  by  the 
North  is  less  revolutionary  than  successful  secession 
by  the  South.  Shall  we  prevent  revolution  by  being 
foremost  in  overthrowing  the  principles  of  our  Govern 
ment,  and  all  that  makes  it  valuable  to  our  people,  and 
distinguishes  it  among  the  nations  of  the  earth  ?  " 

Mr.  Seymour  then  spoke  of  the  valor  and  sagacity 
of  the  Southern  people  and  leaders — showing  that  they 
were  firm  in  their  determination  to  maintain  their 
3 


34  LIFE    OF    HORATIO    SEYMOUR. 

rights  out  of  the  Union,  if  they  could  not  do  so  within 
it ;  he  referred  to  the  extent  and  nature  of  the  South 
ern  coast  line,  demonstrating  the  impossibility  of  estab 
lishing  a  perfect  blockade ;  and  expressed  his  fear  that 
war  would  bring  ruin  to  the  North  as  well  as  to  the 
South,  and  that  the  two  sections  would  have  to  com 
promise  in  the  end.  He  said :  "The  question  is  simply 
this — c  Shall  we  have  compromise  after  war,  or  com- 
prumije  without  war  ? ' 

A  compromise,  he  declared,  was  not  needed  to 
pacify  the  States  that  had  already  withdrawn  from 
the  Union ;  but  for  the  purpose  of  encouraging  and 
strengthening  the  hands  of  the  loyal  men  in  the  Border 
States,  by  which  alone  those  States  could  be  kept 
faithful  to  the  Union.  He  said : 

u  Let  us  take  care  that  we  do  not  mistake  passion 
and  prejudice  and  partisan  purposes  for  principle.  The 
cry  of  '  no  compromise '  is  false  in  morals  ;  it  is  treason 
to  the  spirit  of  the  Constitution ;  it  is  infidelity  in 
religion — the  cross  itself  is  a  compromise,  and  is  plead 
ed  by  many  who  refuse  all  charity  to  their  fellow- 
citizens.  It  is  the  vital  principle  of  social  existence ; 
it  unites  the  family  circle  ;  it  sustains  the  church,  and 
upholds  nationalities. 

"  But  the  Republicans  complain  that,  having  won 
a  victory,  we  ask  them  to  surrender  its  fruits.  We  do 
not  wish  them  to  give  up  any  political  advantage.  We 
urge  measures  which  are  demanded  by  the  honor  and 
the  safety  of  our  Union.  Can  it  be  that  they  are  less 
concerned  than  we  are  ?  Will  they  admit  that  they 
have  interests  antagonistic  to  those  of  the  whole  com- 


POSITION    OF    MR.  SEYMOUR.  35 

monwealth  ?  Are  they  making  sacrifices,  when  they 
do  that  which  is  required  by  the  common  welfare  ?  " 

This  speech  was  bitterly  denounced  by  those  who 
were  bent  upon  driving  the  country  into  war,  as  a 
"  surrender  to  rebels  and  traitors  ;  "  but  it  is  certainly 
no  discredit  to  Governor  Seymour  that  he  desired  to 
secure  the  preservation  of  the  Union  by  means  similar 
to  those  adopted  by  our  forefathers  for  its  creation.  In 
no  part  of  the  speech  did  he  advocate  a  surrender  of 
the  Union.  On  the  contrary,  his  whole  soul  was  given 
to  the  effort  to  save  it ;  and  that  he  preferred  peace  to 
war  is  a  decided  proof  of  that  high  statesmanship  for 
which  he  has  always  been  distinguished.  He  was  a 
Union  man  in  the  best  sense  of  the  term.  He  sought 
to  perpetuate  a  true  Union  of  the  States,  and  to  avoid 
a  resort  to  the  sword,  by  which  the  North  could  do  no 
more  than  reduce  the  South  to  the  condition  of  a  con 
quered  province ;  and  the  result  of  the  war  has  proved 
the  soundness  and  wisdom  of  his  views,  for,  after  a 
lapse  of  nearly  eight  years,  the  Union  is  as  imperfect 
to-day  as  it  was  when  he  uttered  the  words  we  have 
quoted. 

As  we  have  said,  he  earnestly  desired  peace  ;  but 
the  war  came  in  spite  of  him.  He  was  then  called 
upon  to  decide  whether  he  would  cast  his  lot  with  the 
Union  or  the  South.  It  cost  him  nothing  to  make 
this  decision.  His  whole  sympathy  was  with  the 
Union,  and  he  took  his  stand  with  that  great  party 
which  gave  McClellan,  Dix,  McClernand,  Hancock, 
Buell,  Meade,  and  even  Grant,  himself,  with  the  thou 
sands  of  gallant  men  who  followed  them,  to  support 


36  LIFE    OF    HORATIO    SEYMOUR. 

of  the  War.  He  gave  this  support,  however,  for  the 
preservation  and  restoration  of  the  Union ;  and  the 
fact  that  he  could  not  and  did  not  sanction  the  usur 
pations  and  despotism  of  the  Administration  during 
the  four  years  of  the  War,  does  not  detract  from  his 
merits  as  a  consistent  and  faithful  Union  man. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  war  he  returned  to  Utica, 
and  at  once  proceeded  to  render  to  the  Government 
such  aid  as  lay  in  his  power  in  its  efforts  "  to  suppress 
the  rebellion."  He  was  Chairman  of  the  War  Com 
mittee  in  his  County,  and  exerted  himself  actively  in 
equipping  and  forwarding  volunteers  to  Washing 
ton. 

Some  time  after  this,  Mr.  Seymour,  at  a  public 
meeting  in  Utica,  addressed  his  fellow  citizens  at  some 
length  upon  the  state  of  the  country,  and,  among 
other  things,  said  : 

"  We  owe  our  duties  to  our  Government.  We  must 
strengthen  our  armies  and  furnish  it  with  means  to 
conduct  this  war  to  a  successful  issue.  The  day  has 
gone  by  for  efforts  to  avert  it.  When  the  American 
people  refuse  to  live  together  in  the  spirit  of  the  Con 
stitution,  when  they  reject  all  adjustment  of  contro 
versies  they  make  the  sword  the  only  arbiter.  Con 
sistency  demands  that  we  who  strove  to  avert  the  war 
should  now  strive  to  make  it  productive  of  those  ends 
which  we  sought  to  reach  by  peaceful  measures.  All 
theories  of  Government,  that  of  centralization,  or  that 
of  State  rights,  requires  that  we  should  stand  by  the 
'Standard  of  our  Government  and  the  standards  of  our 
State  in  the  lattle-fiddr 


PATRIOTIC    VIEWS.  37 

In  January,  1862,  he  said  at  the  meeting  of  the 
"  State  Military  Association :" 

"  We  denounce  the  rebellion  as  most  ivieked  because 
it  wages  war  against  the  best  Government  the  world  has 
ever  seen.  Remember  there  is  guilt  in  negligence  as 
well  as  in  disobedience,  and  there  is  danger,  too.  We 
complain  that  the  arms  of  the  General  Government 
were  heretofore  unequally  distributed.  This  was 
owing  in  part  to  the  treasonable  purposes  of  officials, 
bat  it  is  due  in  part  to  our  own  neglect  of  our  consti 
tutional  duties.  Our  enrolled  militia  should  count 
more  than  five  hundred  thousand,  but  they  do  not  ex 
ceed  one-half  of  that  number.  Hence  our  quota  of 
arms  was  diminished,  and  that  of  the  Southern  States 
increased.  The  want  of  these  arms  and  a  proper  mil 
itary  organization  has  added  immensely  to  the  cost  of 
this  war,  and  to  the  burden  of  taxation.  More  than 
this,  if  we  had  respected  our  constitutional  obligation 
we  might,  at  the  outset,  have  placed  in  the  field  a  force 
that  would  have  put  out  this  rebellion  when  it  was  first 
Idndled" 

Later  in  the  year,  he  said : 

"  To-day  we  are  putting  forth  our  utmost  efforts  to 
reinforce  our  armies  in  the  field.  Without  conditions 
or  threats  we  are  exerting  our  energies  to  strengthen 
the  hands  of  the  Government  and  to  replace  it  in  the 
commanding  position  in  which  it  can  either  propose 
peace  or  conduct  successful  war.  And  this  support  is 
freely  and  generously  accorded.  We  wish  to  see  our 
Union  saved,  our  "laws  vindicated,  and  peace  once 
more  restored  to  our  land." 


38  LIFE    OF   IIORATIO    SEYMOUR. 

In  a  speech  delivered  in  New  York  City  in  Octo 
ber,  1862,  he  said : 

t;  I  was  gratified  that  while  I  was  in  a  remote  part 
of  the  great  West  it  was  in  my  power  to  promote  the 
formation  of  a  company  of  as  bold  and  as  sturdy 
men  as  ever  rallied  in  defence  of  our  country's  flag. 
I  recall  with  pride  their  array  when  drawn  up  before 
my  lodgings  ;  they  expressed,  through  their  command 
er,  their  good- will  toward  myself,  and  their  obligations 
for  such  assistance  as  I  had  been  able  to  give  them." 


CHAPTER  III. 

The  War  divides  the  people  of  the  North  int.o  two  great  Parties — Politi 
cal  affairs  in  New  York — Meeting  of  the  Democratic  Convention — 
Mr.  Seymour  Nominated  for  Governor — Platform  of  the  New  York 
Democracy — The  Republicans  Nominate  General  Wadsworth — Mr. 
Seymour  is  Elected — His  Inaugural  Address — His  Message  to  the 
Legislature — Review  of  the  Condition  of  the  Country — He  Points 
out  the  Causes  of  the  War — Shows  the  Dangers  which  Threaten 
the  Country — Denunciation  of  the  Excesses  of  the  Republicans — It 
is  not  too  Late  to  Save  the  Union — Errors  of  the  Administration — 
Danger  to  be  Apprehended  from  a  Consolidated  Government — Out 
rages  Practiced  upon  the  People — Martial-  Law — The  Union  is  In 
dissoluble — How  it  may  be  Saved — Eloquent  Peroration — Trouble  in 
the  Legislature — A  dignified  Message — Governor  Seymour's  Speech  in. 
New  York,  July  4th,  1863— Review  of  the  State  of  the  Country- 
Eloquent  Appeal  for  Mercy  and  Conciliation — Comments  upon  the 
Address — Mr.  Seymour's  Wisdom  and  Far-sightedness — His  Candor 
and  Intrepidity  the  Best  Proofs  of  jiis  Patriotism. 

ONE  of  the  effects  of  the  war  was  to  destroy  the 
small  parties  which  had  existed  previous  to  it,  and  to 
divide  the  people  of  the  Union  into  two  great  parties 
— the  Democratic  and  Republican.  In.  New  York  the 
former  members  of  the  "  American  "  party,  determined 
to  support  the  Democratic  nominee  in  the  contest  for 
Governor,  in  the  fall  of  1862.  They  held  a  Convention 
at  Troy,  nominated  Horatio  Seymour  for  Governor, 
and  adjourned.  This  was  a  high  compliment,  as  it 
came  from  the  most  determined  of  Mr.  Seymour's  old 
political  foes.  A  few  days  later  the  Regular  Democratic 
Convention  met  at  Albany,  and  nominated  Mr.  Sey 
mour  as  their  candidate. 


40  LIFE    OF    HOBATIO    SEYMOUE. 

It  has  been  so  often  charged  that  Mr.  Seymour 
was  the  candidate  of  those  who  wished  the  destruction 
of  the  Union,  that  we  cannot  do  better  than  give  the 
platform  upon  which  the  Democratic  party  went  into 
the  contest,  and  upon  which  Mr.  Seymour  was  elected 
by  the  people  of  New  York  It  is  as  follows  : 

"Resolved,  That  the  Democracy  of  New  York, 
waiving  the  expression  of  their  views  upon  questions 
not  rendered  imperative  by  the  imperilled  condition 
of  their  country,  hereby  declare — 

"First.  That  they  will  continue  to  render  the  Gov 
ernment  their  sincere  and  united  support  in  the  use  of 
all  legitimate  means  to  suppress  the  Rebellion,  and  re 
store  the  Union  as  it  was  and  maintain  the  Constitu 
tion  as  it  is — believing  that  that  sacred  instrument, 
founded  in  wisdom  by  our  fathers,  clothes  the  consti 
tuted  authorities  with  full  power  to  accomplish  such 
purpose. 

"Second.  That  by  the  following  resolution,  unani 
mously  passed  by  Congress  in  July  1861,  the  Govern 
ment  was  pledged  to  the  policy  inculcated  therein,  and 
which  cannot  be  parted  from  without  violation  of 
pubic  faith,  viz : 

" c  Resolved,  That  the  present  deplorable  Civil 
War  has  been  forced  upon  the  country  by  the  disu- 
nionists  of  the  Southern  States,  now  in  arms  against 
the  Constitutional  Government,  and  in  arms  around 
the  Capital ;  that  in  this  national  emergency,  Con 
gress,  banishing  all  feeling  of  mere  passion  or  resent 
ment,  will  recollect  only  its  duty  to  the  whole  country; 
that  this  war  is  not  waged  on  their  part,  in  any  spirit 


THE    PLATFORM    OF   '62.  41 

of  oppression,  or  for  any  purpose  of  conquest  or  subju 
gation,  or  purpose  of  overthrowing  or  interfering  with 
the  rights  or  established  institutions  of  those  States, 
but  to  defend  and  maintain  the  supremacy  of  the  Con 
stitution  and  to  preserve  the  Union,  with  all  the  dig 
nity,  equality,  and  rights  of  the  several  States  unim 
paired  ;  and  that  as  soon  as  these  objects  are  accom 
plished  the  war  ought  to  cease/ 

"  Third.  That  we,  having  confidence  in  the  loyalty 
of  the  citizens  of  New  York,  reiterate  the  sentiments 
heretofore  expressed  by  the  Democratic  party — that 
the  illegal  and  unconstitutional  arrests  and  imprison 
ments  of  citizens  of  this  State  are  without  the  justifi 
cation  of  necessity,  and  we  denounce  such  arrests  as  a 
usurpation  and  a  crime,  and  the  freedom  of  the  press, 
equally  protected  by  the  Constitution,  ought  to  be 
maintained. 

"  Fourth.  That  we  are  willing  to  act  in  the  coming 
election  with  any  class  of  loyal  citizens  who  agree  with 
us  in  the  principles  herein  expressed ;  that  we  hereby 
invite  the  co-operation  of  all  citizens  in  giving  the 
most  emphatic  expression  to  these  principles  by 
supporting  the  ticket  nominated  by  the  Conven 
tion." 

Mr.  Seymour's  opponent  in  this  contest  \vas  Gen 
eral  James  Wadsworth,  a  gentleman  of  fine  abilities 
and  unblemished  personal  character.  He  was  the 
administration  Candidate,  and  all  the  influence  of  the 
Federal  Government  was  exerted  in  his  behalf.  The 
election  took  place  on  the  4th  of  November,  1862,  and 
resulted  as  follows : 


42  LIFE    OF    HORATIO    SEYMOUR. 

For  Mr.  Seymour         .         .         306,649  Votes. 
For  Gen.  Wadsworth  .        -.         295,897       " 
Seymour's  majority  over  Wadsworth,     10,752       " 

Governor  Seymour  was  inaugurated  at  Albany  on 
the  1st  of  January  1863.  His  Inaugural  address  was 
very  brief.  After  complimenting  the  retiring  Gov 
ernor  (Mr.  Morgan)  upon  the  manner  in  which  he  had 
discharged  the  duties  of  his  position,  he  said : 

"  Fellow  Citizens  :  In  your  presence  I  have  sol 
emnly  sworn  to  support  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States,  with  all  its  grants,  restrictions,  and  guarantees, 
and  I  shall  support  it. 

"I  have  also  sworn  to  support  another  constitu 
tion — the  Constitution  of  the  State  of  New  York — 
with  all  its  powers  and  rights.  I  shall  uphold  it. 

"  I  have  sworn  faithfully  to  perform  the  duties  of 
the  office  of  Governor  of  this  State,  and  with  your  aid 
they  shall  be  faithfully  performed.  These  Constitu 
tions  and  laws  are  meant  for  the  guidance  of  official 
conduct  and  for  your  protection  and  welfare. 

"  The  first  law  I  find  recorded  for  my  observance 
is  that  which  declares  'it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the 
Governor  to  maintain  and  defend  the  sovereignty  and 
jurisdiction  of  this  State,1  and  the  most  marked  in 
junction  of  the  Constitution  to  the  Executive  is,  that  he 
'  shall  take  care  that  the  laws  are  faithfully  executed.1 

"  Ihese  Constitutions  do  not  conflict;  the  line  of 
separation  between  the  responsibilities  and  obligations 
which  each  imposes  is  well  defined.  They  do  not  em 
barrass  us  in  the  performance  of  our  duties  as  citizens 
or  officials." 


GOVERNOR'S  MESSAGE.  43 

The  Governor  then  briefly  alluded  to  the  quiet 
transfer  of  political  power  from  one  party  to  another 
as  a  proof  of  the  strength  of  our  institutions,  expressed 
the  hope  that  in  two  years  more  the  nation  would  be 
reunited,  peaceful,  and  glorious,  returned  his  thanks 
to  the  assemblage,  and  withdrew. 

The  Governor's  message  was  delivered  on  the  6th. 
We  have  room  for  only  a  brief  summary  of  this  most 
excellent  document. 

He  said  that  the  war  had  taken  more  than  200,- 
000  of  the  men  of  the  State  from  the  workshop  into 
the  field.  Slavery  was  not  the  cause  of  the  war,  but 
had  been  made  the  subject  of  it.  We  must  look  for 
the  cause  of  the  war  in  the  prevailing  disregard  of  the 
laws  and  Constitution,  and  above  all,  in  local  preju 
dices  grown  up  in  the  two  extremes  of  the  country, 
where  remote  positions  and  interests  made  them  less 
informed  regarding  the  condition  and  character  of  the 
white  people  than  in  the  Central  and  Western  States. 
He  declared  that  the  rights  of  the  States  must  be  re 
spected,  and  insisted  that  the  attempts  which  were 
being  made  to  stifle  public  opinion  should  cease.  The 
people,  he  said,  demanded  free  discussion,  and  were 
anxious  to  know  their  true  condition.  His  language 
was  plain  on  this  point.  He  said: 

"  Not  only  is  our  national  life  at  stake,  but  every 
personal,  every  family,  and  every  sacred  duty  and  in 
terest  are  involved. 

"  The  truths  of  our  financial  and  military  situation 
must  not  be  kept  back;  there  must  be  no  attempt  to 
put  down  the  free  expression  of  public  opinion. 


44  LIFE    OF   HORATIO    SEYMOUR. 

"Affrighted  at  the  ruin  they  have  wrought,  the 
authors  of  our  calamities  in  the  North  and  South  insist 
that  this  war  was  caused  by  an  unavoidable  contest 
about  slavery.  This  has  been  the  subject,  not  the  cause 
of  the  controversy.  We  are  to  look  for  the  causes  of 
the  war  in  the  prevailing  disregard  of  the  obligations 
of  the  law  and  the  Constitution,  in  the  disrespect  for 
constituted  authorities,  and,  above  all,  in  the  local  pre 
judices  which  have  grown  up  in  the  two  portions  of 
the  Atlantic  States — the  two  extremes  of  our  coun 
try.  • 

44  There  is  no  honest  statement  of  our  difficulties 
which  does  not  teach  that  our  people  must  reform 
themselves,  as  well  as  the  conduct  of  the  Government 
and  the  policy  of  our  rulers.  It  is  not  too  late  to  save 
our  country,  if  we  will  enter  upon  the  duty  in  the  right 
spirit  and  in  the  right  way. 

44  While  it  is  the  right  of  our  Government  to  declare 
upon  measures  and  policy,  it  is  our  duty  to  obey  and 
give  a  ready  support  to  their  decisions.  This  is  a  vital 
.maxim  of  liberty. 

44  This  war  should  have  been  averted,  but  its  flood 
gates  were  opened,  and  the  Administration  could  not 
grasp  its  dimensions  nor  control  its  sweep.  The  Gov 
ernment  was  borne  away  with  the  current,  and 
struggled  as  best  it  could  with  the  resistless  tide.  Few 
seemed  able  to  comprehend  the  military  or  financial 
problem. 

44  Hence,  we  are  not  to  sit  in  harsh  judgment  upon 
the  errors  in  their  conduct  or  their  policy ;  but,  while 
we  are  to  concede  all  these  excuses  for  mistakes,  we 


BRIEF    SUMMARY.  45 

t 

are  not  to  accept  errors  nor  sanction  violations  of  prin 
ciple. 

"The  same  causes  which  estimate  their  faults  in 
judgment  must  make  us  the  more  vigilant  to  guard 
against  their  usurpations." 

He  declared  that  a  consolidated  Government  in 
this  vast  country  would  destroy  the  essential  rights  and 
privileges  of  the  people.  The  sovereignty  of  the  States 
can  not  be  given  up.  He  urged  economy  and  integrity 
in  the  administration  of  aifairs,  as  these  are  vital  in 
periods  of  war ;  and  said  that  meddling  and  intrigues 
had  thwarted  and  paralyzed  the  vigor  of  the  troops  and 
the  skill  of  their  generals  within  the  influence  of  the 
national  capital,  while  those  armies  which  operated  at 
a  distance  from  Washington  gained  victories.  He  de 
nounced  the  outrages  of  the  Government  upon  the 
people  in  making  arbitrary  arrests,  suppressing  the 
public  journals,  and  establishing  a  system  of  espionage. 
Said  he: 

"  The  suppression  of  journals  and  the  imprisonment 
of  persons  are  glaringly  partisan.  Conscious  of  these 
gross  abuses,  an  attempt  has  been  made  to  shield  the 
violators  of  law,  and  suppress  inquiry  into  their  rou 
tines  and  conduct.  This  attempt  will  fail ;  unconstitu 
tional  acts  will  not  be  shielded  by  constitutional  law. 
I  shall  not  inquire  what  rights  States  in  rebellion  have 
forfeited,  but  I  deny  that  rebellion  can  destroy  a  single 
right  of  the  citizens  of  a  loyal  State.  I  denounce  the 
doctrine  that  civil  war  in  the  South  takes  away  from 
the  loyal  North  the  benefits  of  one  principle  of  civil  lib 
erty.  It  is  a  high  crime  to  abduct  citizens  of  this  State. 


46  LIFE    OF    HORATIO    SEYMOUR. 

u  It  is  made  ray  duty  by  the  Constitution  to  see 
that  the  laws  are  enforced,  and  I  shall  investigate  every 
alleged  violation  of  our  statutes,  and  see  that  the 
offenders  are  brought  to  justice.  Sheriffs  and  district 
attorneys  are  admonished  that  it  is  their  duty  to  take 
care  that  no  persons  within  their  respective  counties  are 
imprisoned  or  carried  by  force  beyond  their  limits  with 
out  clue  process  of  legal  authority." 

He  denounced  the  establishment  of  martial  law  in 
the  loyal  States  as  opposed  to  the  Constitution  and  the 
genius  of  the  Government.  The  President,  he  said, 
holds  his  office,  not  by  the  ivill  of  the  majority,  but  by 
the  Constitution  which  placed  him  there  by  a  vote  of 
1,800,000  against  2,800,000.  He  solemnly  asserted 
that  if  the  Constitution  was  powerless  to  restrain  the 
Executive  within  its  prescribed  limits,  it  made  him 
powerless  to  keep  the  States  in  the  Union.  Those  who 
held  that  there  was  no  sanctity  in  the  Constitution, 
must  of  necessity  admit  that  there  was  no  guilt  in 
rebellion. 

He  declared  the  President's  emancipation  proclama 
tion  a  violation  of  the  Constitution,  impolitic,  and  unjust, 
and  that  it  would  have  the  effect  of  changing  the  object 
for  which  the  war  was  being  waged,  arguing  with  far- 
seeing  wisdom,  that  if  the  South  must  be  held  under 
military  subjugation  and  the  negroes  managed  by  the 
Government,  the  Government  must  be  converted  into 
a  military  despotism. 

He  argued  that  the  Union  is  indissoluble,  and  that 
the  factions,  both  Northern  and  Southern,  must  be  put 
down.  So  closely,  he  said,  are  the  upper  and  lower 


SUMMAKY    OF    MESSAGE.  47 

valleys  of  the  Mississippi  bound  together,  that  when 
cotton  was  burned  in  Louisiana,  corn  was  used  for  fuel 
in  Illinois.  The  war  was  ruining  the  Southern  con 
sumer  and  bankrupting  the  Northern  producer. 

The  Union,  he  declared,  would  be  restored  by  the 
Central  and  Western  States,  who  are  exempt  from  the 
violent  passions  which  influence  the  extremes.  Those 
of  the  Central  Slave  States  which  at  first  rejected  the 
ordinance  of  secession,  and  which  were  driven  off  from 
the  Union  by  the  contemptuous  and  irritating  policy 
of  the  Government,  must  be  brought  back.  The  res 
toration  of  the  whole  Union  would  only  be  the  work 
of  time,  with  such  exertion  as  could  be  put  forth  with 
out  needlessly  sacrificing  the  life  and  treasure  of  the 
North  in  a  bloody  and  calamitous  contest.  The  exer 
cise  of  armed  power  must  be  accompanied  by  a  firm 
and  conciliatory  policy,  so  as  to  restore  the  Union  with 
the  least  possible  injury  to  both  sections. 
Near  the  close  of  the  message,  he  said : 
"  At  this  moment  the  fortunes  of  our  country  are 
influenced  by  the  results  of  battles.  Our  armies  in  the 
field  must  be  supported  ;  all  the  constitutional  demands 
of  our  General  Government  must  be  promptly  respond 
ed  to.  Under  no  circumstances  can  a  division  of  the 
Union  be  conceded.  We  will  put  forth  every  exertion 
of  power  ;  we  will  use  every  policy  of  conciliation  ;  we 
will  hold  out  every  inducement  to  the  people  of  the 
South  to  return  to  their  allegiance  consistent  with 
honor  ;  we  will  guarantee  them  every  right  and  every 
consideration  demanded  by  the  Constitution  alone,  and 
by  that  fraternal  regard  which  must  prevail  in  a  com- 


48  LIFE    OF   HORATIO    SEYMOUR. 

mon  country  ;  but  we  can  never  voluntarily  consent 
to  the  breaking  up  of  the  Union  of  these  States,  or 
the  destruction  of  the  Constitution.1" 

The  organization  of  the  Assembly  was  delayed  for 
some  time  by  difficulties  in  electing  a  Speaker.  There 
were  efforts  made  by  outsiders  to  interrupt  the  pro 
ceedings  of  that  body,  and  the  Republicans,  with  their 
usual  haste  and  unfairness,  endeavored  to  lay  the 
odium  of  the  outrage  upon  the  Governor.  The  Senate 
adopted  a  resolution  calling  on  him  to  perform  his 
duty  in  the  premises,  and  repress  any  popular  disturb 
ance.  In  reply  to  this  demand,  he  submitted  to  the 
Senate  the  following  message  : 

"  Gentlemen  of  the  Senate  :  I  have  received  from 
your  honorable  body  the  following  preamble  and  res 
olutions  : 

u  Whereas,  It  has  come  to  the  knowledge  of  Sen 
ators  that  the  election  of  a  Speaker  to  the  Assembly 
is  delayed  by  the  interference  and  threats  of  a  mob, 
admitted  into  the  lobbies  of  the  Assembly  Chamber, 
and  which  has  endeavored  to  control  the  Legislative 
action  of  the  Assembly  by  threats  and  by  violence  ; 

"  Resolved,  That  it  is  the  solemn  and  imperative 
duty  of  the  Executive  authority  of  this  State,  promptly 
and  without  hesitation,  to  see  to  it  that  the  laws  of 
the  State  be  faithfully  executed,  and  that  this  first  at 
tempt  to  coerce  Legislative  action  by  violence,  and 
brute  force  and  threats  thereof,  be  promptly  thwarted 
and  punished. 

"  Resolved,  That  a  committee  of  three  be  appoint- 


DIGNIFIED    POSITION.  49 

ed  by  the  Chair,  whose  duty  it  shall  be  to  confer  with 
his  Excellency  the  Governor,  and  urge  upon  him  the 
urgent  necessity  and  propriety  of  prompt  and  energetic 
action  for  the  protection  of  the  Assembly  from  mob 
violence,  and  that  the  authors,  aiders  and  abettors 
thereof  be  speedily  brought  to  condign  punishment. 

u  These  were  communicated  to  me  by  a  Committee 
of  the  Senate. 

"  To  avoid  the  mistaken  and  injurious  impressions 
they  are  calculated  to  make,  it  is  proper  I  should  state 
that  when  a  complaint  was  made  on  Friday  last,  by  a 
member  of  the  Assembly,  that  the  proceedings  of  that 
body  were  disturbed  by  the  disorderly  conduct  of  per 
sons  in  the  lobbies  and  galleries,  I  informed  him  that 
any  protection  which  might  be  called  for  by  any  mem 
ber  of  the  Assembly  would  be  immediately  afford 
ed. 

u  The  difficulties  of  the  Assembly  grow  out  of  the 
differences  of  opinion  among  its  members  with  respect 
to  its  organization. 

"  There  is  an  obvious  impropriety  in  any  interfer 
ence  by  one  department  of  the  Government  with  the 
proceedings  of  any  co-ordinate  branch  of  that  Govern 
ment,  unless  a  request  is  made  by  the  parties  in 
terested. 

"  Before  the  passage  of  the  resolutions  of  the  Sen- 
ate,  every  member  of  the  Assembly  who  spoke  to  me 
upon  the  subject  was  told  that  he  had  a  right  to  full 
protection,  but  to  avoid  even  apparent  interference 
with  the  organization  of  the  Assembly,  which,  by  the 
Constitution,  is  expressly  left  to  the  exclusive  control 
4 


50  LIFE    OF    HORATIO    SEYMOUR. 

of  that  body,  my  action  must  be  based  upon  a  request 
for  protection  from  those  directly  concerned. 

"  Immediately  upon  being  advised  of  the  alleged 
disorders,  I  consulted  with  the  Mayor  of  the  city,  who 
made  adequate  arrangements  to  prevent  any  outside 
interference.  I  felt  it  due  to  the  Senate,  as  a  matter 
of  courtesy,  to  explain  to  them,  that  I  can  only  act 
upon  a  request  coming  from  members  of  that  branch 
of  the  Legislature  which  is  affected  by  any  disorderly 

proceedings. 

HORATIO  SEYMOUR." 

On  the  4th  of  July,  1863,  Governor  Seymour  ad 
dressed  a  large  and  brilliant  audience  in  the  Academy 
of  Music,  in  the  City  of  New  York.  We  make  the 
following  extracts  from  this  able  address : 

u  When  I  accepted  the  invitation  to  speak,  with 
others,  at  this  meeting,  we  were  promised  the  down 
fall  of  Vicksburg,  the  opening  of  the  Mississippi,  the 
probable  capture  of  the  Confederate  Capital,  .and  the 
exhaustion  of  the  Rebellion.  By  common  consent  all 
parties  had  fixed  upon  this  day,  when  the  results  of 
the  campaign  should  be  known,  to  mark  out  that  line 
of  policy  which  they  felt  that  our  country  should  pur 
sue.  But,  in  the  moment  of  expected  victory,  there 
came  the  midnight  cry  for  help  from  Pennsylvania  to 
save  its  despoiled  fields  from  the  invading  foe ;  and, 
almost  within  sight  of  this  great  commercial  metrop 
olis,  the  ships  of  your  merchants  were  burned  to  the 
water's  edge." 


SPEECH    IN    NEW    YORK.  51 

"  A  few  years  ago,  we  stood  before  this  community 
to  warn  them  of  the  dangers  of  sectional  strife ;  but 
our  fears  were  laughed  at.  At  a  later  day,  when  the 
clouds  of  war  overhung  our  country,  we  implored  those 
in  authority  to  compromise  that  difficulty ;  for  we  had 
been  told  by  that  great  orator  and  statesman,  Burke, 
that  there  never  yet  was  a  revolution  that  might  not 
have  been  prevented  by  a  compromise  opportunely  and 
graciously  made.  [Great  applause.]  Our  prayers 
were  unheeded.  Again,  when  the  contest  was  opened, 
we  invoked  those  who  had  the  conduct  of  affairs  not 
to  underrate  the  powers  of  the  adversary — not  to  un 
derrate  the  courage,  and  resources,  and  endurance  of 
our  own  sister  States.  This  warning  was  treated  as 
sympathy  with  treason.  You  have  the  results  of  these 
unheeded  warnings  and  unheeded  prayers;  they  have 
stained  our  soil  with  blood ;  they  have  carried  mourn 
ing  into  thousands  of  homes;  and  to-day  they  have 
brought  our  country  to  the  very  verge  of  destruction. 
Once  more,  I  come  before  you,  to  offer  again  an  earn 
est  prayer,  and  beg  you  to  listen  to  a  warning.  Our 
country  is  not  only  at  this  time  torn  by  one  of  the 
bloodiest  wars  that  has  ever  ravaged  the  face  of  the 
earth,  but,  if  we  turn  our  faces  to  our  own  loyal 
States,  how  is  it  there?  You  find  the  community  di 
vided  into  political  parties,  strongly  arrayed,  and  using 
with  regard  to  each  other  terms  of  reproach  and  defi 
ance.  It  is  said  by  those  who  support  more  particu 
larly  the  Administration,  that  we,  who  differ  honestly, 
patriotically,  sincerely,  from  them  with  regard  to  the 
line  of  duty,  are  men  of  treasonable  purposes  and  ene- 


52  LIFE    OF    HOEATIO    SEYMOUR, 

mies  to  our  country.  [;  Hear,  hear.1]  On  the  other 
hand,  the  Democratic  organization  look  upon  this  Ad 
ministration  as  hostile  to  their  rights  and  liberties; 
they  look  upon  their  opponents  as  men  who  would  do 
th'em  wrong  in  regard  to  their  most  sacred  franchises. 
I  need  not  call  your  attention  to  the  tone  of  the  press, 
or  to  the  tone  of  public  feeling,  to  show  you  how,  at 
this  moment,  parties  are  thus  exasperated,  and  stand 
in  defiant  attitudes  to  each  other.  A  few  years  ago, 
we  were  told  that  sectional  strife,  waged  in  words  like 
these,  would  do  no  harm  to  our  country ;  but  you  have 
seen  the  sad  and  bloody  results.  Let  us  be  admonished 
now  in  time,  and  take  care  that  this  irritation,  this 
feeling  which  is  growing  up  in  our  midst,  shall  not  also 
ripen  into  civil  troubles  that  shall  carry  the  evils  of 
war  into  our  own  homes. 

"  Upon  one  point,  all  are  agreed,  and  that  is  this  : 
Until  we  have  a  united  North,  we  can  have  no  suc 
cessful  war.  Until  we  have  a  united,  harmonious 
North,  we  can  have  no  beneficent  peace.  How  shall 
we  gain  harmony  ?  How  shall  the  unity  of  all  be  ob 
tained  ?  Is  it  to  be  coerced  ?  I  appeal  to  you,  my 
Republican  friends,  when  you  say  to  us  that  the  na 
tion's  life  and  existence  hang  upon  harmony  and  con 
cord  here,  if  you  yourselves,  in  your  serious  moments, 
believe  that  this  is  to  be  produced  by  seizing  our  per 
sons,  by  infringing  upon  our  rights,  by  insulting  our 
homes,  and  by  depriving  us  of  those  cherished  princi 
ples  for  which  our  fathers  fought,  and  to  which  we  have 
always  sworn  allegiance."  [Great  applause.] 


SPEECH.  53 

"  We  only  ask  that  you  shall  give  to  us  that  which 
you  claim  for  yourselves,  and  that  which  every  free 
man,  and  every  man  who  respects  himself,  will  have, 
freedom  of  speech,  the  right  to  exercise  all  the  fran 
chises  conferred  by  the  Constitution  upon  American 
citizens.  [Great  applause.]  Can  you  safely  deny  us 
these  ?  Will  you  not  trample  upon  your  own  rights  if 
you  refuse  to  listen?  Do  you  not  create  revolution 
when  you  say  that  our  persons  may  be  rightfully 
seized,  our  property  confiscated,  our  homes  entered? 
Are  you  not  exposing  yourselves,  your  own  interests, 
to  as  great  a  peril  as  that  with  which  you  threaten  us? 
Remember  this,  that  the  bloody,  and  treasonable,  and 
revolutionary  doctrine  of  public  necessity  can  be  pro 
claimed  by  a  mob  as  well  as  by  a  government,"  [Ap 
plause.]  *  *  *  *  * 

"  To-day,  the  great  masses  of  conservatives  who 
still  battle  for  time-honored  principles  of  government, 
amid  denunciation,  contumely,  and  abuse,  are  the  only 
barriers  that  stand  between  this  Government  and  its 
own  destruction.  If  we  should  acquiesce  in  the  doc 
trine  that,  in  times  of  war,  Constitutions  are  suspend 
ed,  and  laws  have  lost  their  force,  then  we  should  accept 
a  doctrine  that  the  very  right  by  which  this  Govern 
ment  administers  its  power  has  lost  its  virtue,  and  we 
would  be  brought  down  to  the  level  of  rebellion  itself, 
having  an  existence  only  by  virtue  of  material  power. 
When  men  accept  despotism,  they  may  have  a  choice 
as  to  who  the  despot  shall  be.  The  struggle  then  will 
not  be,  Shall  we  have  constitutional  liberty?  But, 
having  accepted  the  doctrine  that  the  Constitution  has 


54  LIFE    OF    HORATIO    SEYMOUR. 

lost  its  force,  every  instinct  of  personal  ambition,  every 
•instinct  of  personal  security,  will  lead  men  to  put  them 
selves  under  the  protection  of  that  power  which  they 
suppose  most  competent  to  guard  their  persons." 

#  -5f  #  *  *  # 

"  We  stand  to-day  amid  new-made  graves,  in  a  land 
filled  with  mourning ;  upon  a  soil  saturated  with  the 
blood  of  the  fiercest  conflict  of  which  history  gives  us 
an  account.  We  can,  if  we  will,  avert  all  these  calami 
ties,  and  evoke  a  blessing.  If  we  will  do  what  ?  Hold 
that  Constitution,  arid  liberties,  and  laws  are  suspend 
ed  ? — shrink  back  from  the  assertion  of  right  ?  Will 
that  restore  them  ?  Or  shall  we  do  as  our  fathers  did, 
under  circumstances  of  like  trial,  when  they  combated 
against  the  powers  of  a  crown  ?  They  did  not  say  that 
liberty  was  suspended ;  that  men  might  be  deprived  of 
the  right  of  trial  by  jury ;  that  they  might  be  torn 
from  their  homes  by  midnight  intruders  ?  [Tremen 
dous  and  continued  applause.]  If  you  would  save 
your  country,  and  your  liberties,  begin  right ;  begin  at 
the  hearth-stones,  which  are  ever  meant  to  be  the  foun 
dations  of  American  institutions;  begin  in  your  family 
circle ;  declare  that  your  privileges  shall  be  held  sacred ; 
and,  having  once  proclaimed  your  own  rights,  take  care 
that  you  do  not  invade  those  of  your  neighbor.1' 

,  There  are  some  persons  who  profess  to  see  in  these 
calm  and  thoughtful  words  the  evidence  that  their 
author,  at  the  time  he  spoke,  was  a  sympathizer  with 
the  people  of  the  South  in  their  efforts  against  the 
Union.  We  are  not  of  that  number.  The  whole  ad 
dress  of  Mr.  Seymour  is  marked  by  a  deep,  calm  in- 


THE    WAR    A   FAILURE.  55 

sight  into  the  condition  of  the  affairs  of  the  country ; 
and  the  fact  that  he  did  not  know  that  Grant  was  at 
that  hour  inarching  into  the  captured  city  of  Vicks- 
burg,  and  that  Lee  was  retreating  from  Pennsylvania, 
does  not  alter  the  truth  of  this  remark.  The  war  up  to 
that  time  had  been  a  failure  on  the  part  of  the  General 
Government ;  and  the  successes  at  Vicksburg-and  Get 
tysburg  were  the  legitimate  results  of  blunders  on  the 
part  of  the  Confederates  which  the  most  ardent  friend 
of  the  Union  could  not  foresee,  and  upon  which  no  one 
had  any  right  to  rely.  Mr.  Seymour  argued  from  the 
facts  then  before  him,  which  fully  sustained  his  deduc 
tions.  The  successes  to  which  we  have  referred  were  not 
due  to  any  vigor  on  the  part  of  the  Administration ;  and 
so  far  as  it  was  concerned,  the  war  was  a  failure.  Had 
Pemberton  obeyed  the  order  of  General  Johnston  when 
Grant  crossed  the  Mississippi  river,  the  result  of  the 
Vicksburg  campaign  would  have  been  different;  arid  had 
Lee  listened  to  the  advice  of  Longstreet,  he  would  have 
been  spared  his  defeat  at  Gettysburg ;  so  that  these 
triumphs,  which  changed  the  whole  fortune  of  the  war, 
were  brought  about  through  the  blunders  of  the  Con 
federates,  and  were  simply  u  pieces  of  good  luck  "  for 
the  Administration.  Mr.  Seymour's  argument,  there 
fore,  is  not  affected  by  them.  He  would  have  been 
blind  indeed,  had  he  not  seen  that  the  war  up.  to  that 
time  was  a  failure ;  for  even  his  assailant,  Mr.  Greeley, 
admits  this. 

His  remarks  were  not  made,  as  is  charged  by  the 
Republican  writers  and  orators,  in  a  spirit  of  exulta 
tion  over  the  reverses  of  the  Union.  They  were  ut- 


56  LIFE    OF    HORATIO    SEYMOUR. 

tered  in  a  spirit  of  profound  sorrow ;  for  he  believed 
that  the  restoration  of  the  Union,  for  which  he  had 
worked  so  hard  and  longed  so  ardently,  was  further 
off  then  than  it  had  ever  been.  More  than  this,  it 
filled  him  with  unutterable  sadness  to  think  of  the 
vast  sacrifices  of  life  and  treasure  that  had  been  made 
by  the  Government  in  what  then  seemed  a  useless 
effort.  He  felt  for  the  widows  and  orphans,  and  the 
countless  mourners  in  his  own  State  and  throughout 
the  entire  North,  and  he  shuddered  to  think  of  the 
further  suffering  in  store  for  the  country ;  and  this 
sorrow  was  produced  not  by  disloyalty  to  the  Union, 
but  by  the  deepest  devotion  to  it.  The  fact  that  he 
saw  the  weakness  and  mismanagement  of  the  Federal 
Government  is  no  proof  of  his  hostility  to  the  cause  of 
the  Union,  for  it  would  have  been  criminal  in  him  to 
have  refused  to  put  the  people  of  the  country  on  their 
guard  when  he  saw  the  danger  which  threatened  them. 
Prominent  members  of  the  Republican  party  had  at 
that  time  declared  their  belief  that  the  war  was  a 
failure ;  and  even  Mr..  Greeley  had  said  a  year  and  a 
half  earlier  (January,  1862),  when  the  Union  cause 
looked  far  brighter  than  it  did  in  July,  1863:  "If 
tliree  months  more  shall  not  serve  to  make  a  serious 
impression  on  the  rebels,  let  us  low  to  our  destiny  and 
make  the  best  attainable  peace" — an  expression  far  more 
encouraging  to  the  people  of  the  South  than  any  thing 
Governor  Seymour  ever  uttered.  Nothing  but  parti 
san  malice  could  torture  the  words  we  h;ive  quoted 
from  Mr.  Seymour's  address  into  an  avowal,  open  or 
covert,  of  sympathy  with  the  enemies  of  the  Union. 


DEVOTION   TO    THE    CONSTITUTION.  57 

Mr.  Seymour  was  too  great  a  man,  too  wise  a  states 
man,  to  confound  loyalty  to  his  country  and  its  Con 
stitution  with  fidelity  to  an  Administration.  To  the 
former  he  was  devoted  with  his  whole  soul,  and  he 
failed  not  to  render  to  it  every  assistance  in  his  power. 
Such  aid  as  he  could  give  the  Government  in  the  con 
scientious  discharge  of  his  duty,  was  promptly  and 
faithfully  given.  That  he  did  not  sustain  the  Admin 
istration  in  all  its  acts,  is  to  his  credit  and  not  to  his 
discredit.  He  was  not  willing  to  support  a  war  for 
mere  conquest,  and  he  did  not  desire  the  subjugation 
of  the  South  at  the  expense  of  the  freedom  of  the  whole 
country.  He  believed  that  the  rights  secured  to  every 
citizen  by  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  are  in 
alienable,  and  he  was  in  favor  of  resisting  the  outrages 
of  the  Government  upon  them.  He  did  not  believe 
that  it  was  necessary  to  destroy  freedom  of  speech  and 
of  the  press  in  the  North,  to  fill  the  forts  and  prisons 
of  every  loyal  State  with  citizens  whose  only  crime  was 
a  dissent  from  the  views  of  the  Republican  party,  to 
violate  the  sanctity  of  the  telegraph  and  post-office, 
and  to  outrage  even  the  most  sacred  relations  of  private 
life — all  of  which  had  been  done,  and  was  being  done, 
in  the  loyal  States  by  the  orders  of  President  Lincoln, 
and  his  officials.  His  judgment  taught  him  that  the 
evil  seed  which  the  Government  was  sowing  would  one 
day  yield  their  fruit — that  no  Government  can  sys 
tematically  violate  its  own  laws  without  ultimately  be 
ing  destroyed ;  and  his  common  sense  convinced  him 
that  the  Republican  party,  whether  they  desired  such  a 
state  of  affairs  or  not,  were  working  surely  and  power- 


58  LIFE    OP   HORATIO    SEYMOUR. 

fully  for  the  destruction  of  our  free  institutions  and  the 
establishment  of  a  terrible  despotism  in  their  place ; 
and  he  would  have  been  no  true  patriot  who  could 
have  refrained  from  yearning  his  countrymen  of  these 
things.  The  results  of  the  war — the  complete  and  ut 
ter  subjugation  of  the  South,  the  establishment  of  a 
military  despotism  in  that  section,  the  eifort  to  degrade 
the  intelligence  and  worth  of  those  States  beneath  their 
barbarism  and  ignorance,  the  vast  and  useless  accumu 
lation  of  debt  in  the  sham  efforts  at  reconstruction,  and 
the  unsettled  and  threatening  condition  of  the  loya1 
States — all  amply  vindicated  the  wisdom  of  Mr.  Sey 
mour  ;  and  the  fact  that  he  tried  to  avert  such  a  state 
of  affairs  is  the  best  guarantee  of  his  patriotism  that 
can  be  given. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

Invasion  of  Pennsylvania  by  General  Lee — Alarm  in  the  North— Excite 
ment  in  New  York— The  Government  calls  for  Troops  from  the 
Border  States — The  President  asks  New  York  for  aid — Prompt 
Eeply  of  Governor  Seymour — Orders  of  the  State  Authorities — Pa 
triotic  Response  of  the  Troops — Aid  sent  to  the  Border — Statement 
of  Troops  sent  by  New  York — Energy  of  Governor  Seymour — Re 
publican  Testimony  on  this  point — Messages  from  the  Government 
— The  President  and  Secretary  of  War  thank  Governor  Seymour 
for  the  Prompt  Assistance  given  by  him — Testimony  of  Mr.  Lincoln — 
The  Official  Correspondence  between  the  State  and  Federal  Author 
ities — Incontestible  Proofs — Statement  of  the  "Philadelphia  Age  " — 
Mr.  Seymour  triumphantly  Vindicated  by  his  own  Acts  from  the 
Calumnies  of  his  Enemies. 

ON  the  15th  of  June,  1863,  the  Confederate  army 
under  General  Lee,  which  had  manoeuvred  General 
Hooker's  army  from  its  position  on  the  Rappahannock 
and  seized  the  upper  fords  of  the  Potomac,  entered  the 
State  of  Maryland,  and  for  the  second  time  invaded 
the  loyal  States.  Marching  leisurely  through  Mary 
land,  Lee  moved  into  Pennsylvania,  manoeuvring  in 
such  a  manner  as  to  make  it  uncertain  whether  he  de 
signed  attacking  Washington,  Baltimore,  or  Philadel 
phia.  The  news  of  his  movements  filled  the  entire 
Border  -with  alarm,  and  the  studied  reticence  which 
the  Government  observed  respecting  the  movements 
of  the  two  opposing  armies  only  tended  to  increase  the 
excitement.  The  Government  was  as  much  excited  as 
the  people,  and  feeling  its  own  incompetency  to  meet 


60  LIFE    OF    HORATIO    SEYMOUR. 

the  crisis,  refrained  from  trammelling  General  Meade, 
the  able  commander  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  with 
instructions.  It  realized  one  thing,  however,  that  there 
was  an  urgent  necessity  for  more  men ;  and  accordingly 
on  the  15th  of  June,  the  President  issued  his  procla 
mation,  calling  upon  the  States  of  Maryland,  Pennsyl 
vania,  Ohio,  and  West  Virginia,  to  furnish  one  hundred 
thousand  militia,  to  serve  for  a  period  of  six  months, 
unless  sooner  discharged. 

The  excitement  which  prevailed  along  the  Border, 
spread  quickly  to  the  city  of  New  York,  and  this  feel 
ing  was  at  once  aroused  to  a  positive  enthusiasm  when 
it  became  known  that  New  York  had  been  called  upon 
to  assist  Pennsylvania.  On  the  day  on  which  the 
proclamation  just  referred  to  was  issued,  the  President 
telegraphed  to  Governor  Seymour,  calling  for  twenty 
thousand  militia,  to  aid  in  resisting  the  advance  of  the 
enemy.  The  Governor  at  once  sent  a  prompt  response, 
promising  all  the  aid  in  his  power,  and  on  the  same 
day  the  following  orders  were  issued  at  his  com 
mand: 

"  HEADQUARTERS  FIRST  BRIGADE  N.  Y.  S.  N  G.  ") 
"NEW  YORK,  June  lUh,  1863.          j 
"By  order  of  the  Commander-in -Chief  of  the  State 
of  New  York,  the  several  regiments  of  this  brigade 

7  O  o 

will  hold  themselves  in  readiness  to  depart  for  Phila 
delphia  at  once,  on  short  notice.  By  order  of 

u  Brigadier-General  C.  B.  SPICER. 

"  R.  H.  HOADLEY,  Brigade  Major  and  Inspector. 

"  WILLIAM  D.  DIMOCK,  Aide-de-Camp." 


AID    FROM    NEW   YORK.  61 

*  "  Order  No.  3. 

"HEADQUARTERS,  543  BROADWAY,  ) 
"NEW  YORK,  June  15*A,  1863.  ) 
"  Commandants  of  regiments  of  the  Third  Brigade 
N.  Y.  N.  G.,  are  hereby  directed  to  report  to  General 
Wm.  Hall,  at  his  quarters,  at  six  o'clock  on  Tuesday 
morning,  by  order  of  the  Commander-in-Chief,  Hora 
tio  Seymour,  to  be  ready  to  go  to  Philadelphia  at  once, 
on  short  service. 

"  The  brigade  drill  for  the  17th  inst.  is  hereby  coun 
termanded.     By  order,  General  WM.  HALL. 
"  J.  K.  SMITH,  Quartermaster." 

Copies  of  these  orders  were  at  once  telegraphed  to 
Washington,  where  the  prompt  action  of  Governor 
Seymour  was  hailed  with  satisfaction  and  delight.  The 
Secretary  of  War,  at  the  direction  of  the  President, 
telegraphed  the  Governor  as  follows': 

"  WASHINGTON,  June  15#A,  1863. 

"GOVERNOR  SEYMOUR:  The  President  directs  me  to 
return  his  thanks,  with  those  of  the  Department,  for 
your  prompt  response.  A  strong  movement  of  your 
city  regiments  to  Philadelphia  would  be  a  very  encour 
aging  movement,  and  do  great  good  in  giving  strength 
to  that  State. 

"  The  call  had  to  be  for  six  months  unless  sooner  dis 
charged  in  order  to  comply  with  the  law.  It  is  not 
likely  that  more  than  thirty  days1  service — perhaps  not 
so  long — would  be  required.  Can  you  forward  your 
city  regiments  speedily  ?  Please  reply  early. 

"  EDWIN  M.  STANTON,  Secretary  of  War." 


62  LIFE    OF    HORATIO    SEYMOUR. 

As  soon  as  the  orders  were  issued  for  the  assembling 
of  the  militia,  the  men  composing  the  various  regiments 
began  to  assemble  at  their  respective  places  of  rendez 
vous  in  response  to  the  call  upon  them.  The  utmost 
enthusiasm  prevailed,  and  the  preparations  were 
pushed  forward  as  rapidly  as  possible.  The  next  day 
the  following  order  was  issued  : 

"  HEADQUARTERS  FIRST  DIVISION  N.  Y.  S.  Mr  | 
"NEW  YORK,  June  16th,  1863.          j 

"  The  regiments  of  this  division  are  directed  to 
proceed  forthwith  to  Harrisburg,  in  Pennsylvania,  to 
assist  in  repelling  the  invasion  of  the  State. 

"  The  United  States  Quartermaster  and  Commis 
sary  will  furnish  transportation  and  subsistence  upon 
the  requisition  of  regimental  quartermasters,  counter 
signed  by  the  colonels. 

"  The  term  of  service  will  not  exceed  thirty  days. 

"  Commandants  of  brigades  and  regiments  will 
report  to  the  Major-General  the  numbers  ready  for 
transportation,  and  will  receive  direction  as  to  the 
route  and  time  of  embarkation. 

"  Each  man  will  provide  himself  with  two  days1 
cooked  provisions. 

"  By  order  of  Major-Gen.  CHARLES  W.  SAKTORD. 

"J.  H.  WILCOX,  Division  Inspector." 

"  This  division  consisted  of  four  brigades.  The 
first  brigade,  under  Gen.  C.  B.  Spicer,  was  composed 
of  the  1st,  2d,  3d,  71st,  and  73d  regiments.  The  sec 
ond  brigade,  under  Gen.  Chas.  Yates,  was  composed 
of  the  4th,  5th,  6th,  and  12th  regiments.  The  third 


STATEMENT    OF    TROOPS    SENT.  63 

brigade,  under  Gen.  Hall,  was  composed  of  the  7th, 
8th,  37th,  and  55th  regiments.  The  fourth  brigade 
under  Gen.  Ewen,  was  composed  of  the  llth,  22d,  and 
69th  regiments. 

"  On  that  day  there  went  forward  the  7th  regiment, 
650  men.  On  the  18th,  the  8th,  371  men  ;  llth, 
762  men:  23d,  626  men,  and  71st,  737  men.  On 
the  19th,  the  5th,  8*28  men;  12th,  684  men;  22d, 
568  men ;  37th,  693  men  ;  65th,  555  men,  and  74th, 
504  men.  On  the  20th,  the  4th,  560  men  ;  13th,  496 
men  ;  28th,  484  men  ;  56th,  476  men.  On  the  22d, 
the  6th,  656  men;  52d,  351  men;  69th,  600  men. 
On  the  23d,  the  67th,  400  men.  On  the  24th,  the 
55th,  350  men;  68th,  400  men.  On  the  26th,  the 
47th,  400  men.  On  the  27th,  the  21st,  600 
men.  On  July  3d,  the  17th,  400  men;  18th,  400 
men ;  84th,  480  men.  The  total  number  sent  between 
the  15th  of  June  and  the  3d  of  July  was  13,971 
men.  During  the  same  time  scattered  detachments 
of  volunteers  in  the  State  to  the  number  of  1,827 
men  were  organized  and  equipped  and  ordered  to 
Harrisburg."* 

Governor  Seymour  entered  energetically  upon  the 
task  of  forwarding  these  troops.  Feeling  that  his 
presence  in  New  York  would  greatly  encourage  the 
men  and  assist  the  process  of  volunteering,  he  repaired 
to  that  city  on  the  17th  of  June,  and  gave  his  per 
sonal  supervision  to  the  matter. 

A  letter  from  New  York,  dated  June  17th,  and 
published  in  the  Philadelphia  Inquirer,  a  Republi- 

*  The  Annual  Oyclopcedia,  1863,  p.  95. 


64  LIFE    OF    HORATIO    SEYMOUR. 

can  journal  thus  describes  the  state  of  affairs  in  the 
former  city  at  this  time : 

"  There  is  a  much  more  confident  feeling  visible  on 
all  hands  to-day,  in  regard  to  the  rebel  invasion,  owing 
partly  to  the  reassuring  character  of  the  Inquirer's 
dispatches  from  the  border,  but  mainly  to  the  efficient 
measures  that  have  been  taken  to  beat  back  the  rebels 
if  their  advance  is  persisted  in.  The  course  pursued 
by  the  several  loyal  Governors  in  reference  to  the  crisis 
seems  to  be  indicative  of  a  unity  of  purpose,  which  is, 
under  all  circumstances,  the  best  guarantee  of  efficient 
action.  Gov.  Parker,  of  New  Jersey,  and  Gov.  Sey 
mour,  have  done  well.  They  have  shown  the  rebel 
leaders  that  when  it  comes  to  a  Northern  invasion, 
Democrats  and  Republicans  occupy  one  and  the  same 
platform,  and  know  no  difference  of  opinion.  Recent 
events  raising  some  doubts  in  many  minds,  on  that 
point,  after  all  it  may  be  the  advance  of  the  enemy  to 
Chamber sburg  even  may  prove  an  advantage  to  us,  if 
it  has  served  to  remove  those  doubts. 

"  The  Seventh  Regiment  left  for  Harrisburg  this 
morning,  and  will  probably  reach  their  destination 
before  this  is  in  type.  On  passing  down  Broadway 
they  were  loudly  cheered. 

"  About  three  hundred  of  the  Twenty-first  New 
Jerse}'  Regiment,  who  came  home  on  furlough  from 
Trenton,  on  Monday,  received  orders  this  afternoon  to 
report  at  headquarters.  They  left  for  their  destination 
at  3  o'clock. 

u  The  Brooklyn  regiments  are  rapidly  recruiting. 
One  of  them  is  nearly  full,  and  expects  to  leave  to- 


PROMPT   AND   EFFECTIVE.  65 

morrow.  Others,  if  need  be,  will  immediately  fol 
low. 

"  Governor  Seymour  and  General  Sprague  will 
be  in  New  York  to-night.  A  conference  will  be  held 
with  Major-Gerieral  Sandford  and  the  brigade  Generals 
at  the  St.  Nicholas  Hotel  at  ten  o'clock  this  evening. 
The  Governor  says,  if  need  be,  he  will  stay  here  to  su 
perintend  the  forwarding  of  the  troops  himself.  He 
says  when  a  sister  State  is  in  danger  red  tape  must  not 
be  permitted  to  stand  in  the  way. 

ic  Brigadier- Generals  Hall  and  Yates,  of  the  2d  and 
3d  Brigades  of  the  State  Militia,  have  been  ordered  to 
report  at  Harrisburg  with  their  commands.  They 
will  leave  to-morrow.  Being  unable  to  obtain  uni 
forms  and  clothing,  or  arms,  for  some  of  the  regi 
ments,  from  the  United  States  authorities,  Gov.  Sey 
mour  has  directed  that  they  be  drawn  from  the  State, 
and  requisitions  are  now  being  filled  so  as  to  ena 
ble  all  the  regiments  in  this  city  to  leave  for  Har 
risburg  to-morrow.  The  8th  regiment  will  leave  this 
evening.  Gov.  Seymour  arrived  in  this  city  this 
evening,  to  confer  with  and  assist  the  military  in  a 
prompt  movement  to  aid  Pennsylvania. 

"The  military  regiments  throughout  the  State 
are  being  rapidly  organized.  There  will  be  no  ne 
cessity  of  a  draft  to  fill  them." 

The  President,  grateful  for  the  prompt  and  effec 
tive  aid  rendered  by  the  Governor  of  New  York, 
and  for  the  cordial  and  hearty  manner  in  which  that 
aid  was  given,  sent  him  the  following  despatch  through 

the  Secretary  of  War : 
5 


66  LIFE  OF  HORATIO  SEYMOUR. 

"  WAR  DEPARTMENT,  WASHINGTON  CITY, 

"June  19*A,  1863. 
"  To  Adjutant- General  Sprague : 

"  The  President  directs  me  to  return  his  thanks  to  His 
Excellency  Gov.  Seymour,  and  his  staff,  for  their  ener 
getic  and  prompt  action.  Whether  any  futher  force  is 
likely  to  be  required  will  be  communicated  to  you  to 
morrow,  by  which  time  it  is  expected  the  movements 
of  the  enemy  will  be  more  fully  developed. 

("  Signed)  "  EDWIN  M.  STANTON, 

"  Secretary  of  War." 

Again,  on  the  27th,  the  following  despatch  was 
sent  to  the  Governor  of  the  State  by  the  Secretary  of 
War: 

"  WAR  DEPARTMENT,  WASHINGTON  CITY,  ) 
June  27th,  1863.          J 

"  DEAR  SIR  :  I  cannot  forbear  expressing  to  you 
the  deep  obligation  I  feel  for  the  prompt  and  cordial 
support  you  have  given  the  Government  in  the  present 
emergency.  The  energy  and  patriotism  you  have  ex 
hibited  I  may  be  permitted  personally  and  officially 
to  acknowledge,  without  arrogating  any  personal 
claims  on  rny  part,  to  such  service,  or  any  service  what 
ever. 

"  I  shall  be  happy  always  to  be  esteemed  your  friend.* 

"EDWIN  M.  STANTON. 
"  His  Excellency  HORATIO  SEYMOUR," 

*  The  following  are  the  official  telegrams  relating  to  the  action  of 
Governor  Seymour  in  this  matter,  in  addition  to  those  already  given: 


HIS    WAR   RECORD.  67 

Not  content  with  sending  these  messages,  a  few 
days  before  the  battle  of  Gettysburg,  when  the  officer 
of  Governor  Seymour's  staff,  who  had  been  charged 

WASHINGTON",  June  15th,  1863. 
To  His  Excellency  GOVEBNOE  SEYMOUR  : 

The  movements  of  the  Rebel  forces  in  Virginia  are  now  sufficiently 
developed,  to  show  that  General  Lee,  with  his  whole  army,  is  moving 
forward  to  invade  the  States  of  Maryland  and  Pennsylvania,  and  other 
States. 

The  President  to  repel  this  invasion,  promptly,  has  called  upon  Ohio, 
Pennsylvania,  Maryland,  and  West  Virginia  for  one  hundred  thousand 
(100,000)  militia,  for  six  (6)  months,  unless  sooner  discharged.  It  is  im 
portant  to  have  the  largest  possible  force  in  the  least  time,  and  if  other 
States  would  furnish  militia  for  a  short  time,  to  be  ordered  on  the  draft, 
it  would  greatly  advance  the  object.  Will  you  please  inform  me,  imme 
diately,  if,  in  answer  to  a  special  call  of  the  President,  you  can  raise  and 
forward  say  twenty  thousand  (20,000)  militia,  as  volunteers  without 
bounty,  to  be  credired  on  the  drafc  of  your  State,  or  what  number  you 
can  probably  raise  ?  E.  M.  STANTON, 

Secretary  of  War. 

ALBANY,  June  15th  1868. 
Hon.  E.  M.  STANTON,  Secretary  of  War,  Washington: 

I  will  spare  no  efforts  to  send  you  troops  at  once.  I  have  sent  orders 
to  the  militia  officers  of  the  State.  HOEATIO  SEYMOUB. 

ALBANY,  June  loth,  1863. 
Hon.  E.  M.  STANTON,  Secretary  of  War,  Washington: 

I  will  order  the  New  York  and  Brooklyn  troops  to  Philadelphia  at 
once.  Where  can  they  get  arms  if  they  are  needed  ? 

HOEATIO  SEYMOUE. 

[Here  follows  Mr.  Stanton's  telegram  of  June  15th  to  the  Governor, 
given  above,  thanking  him  for  his  promptness.] 

ALBANY,  June  15th,  1863. 
Hon.  E.  M.  STANTON,  Secretary  of  War,  Washington : 

We  have  about  two  thousand  enlisted  volunteers  in  this  State.  I  will 
have  them  consolidated  into  companies  and  regiments,  and  sent  on  at 
once.  You  must  provide  them  with  arms.  HOEATIO  SEYMOTJE. 


68  LIFE    OF   HORATIO    SEYMOUR. 

with  superintending  the  forwarding  of  the  New  York 
troops  to  Harrisburg,  called  to  pay  his  respects  to  the 
President,  before  leaving  Washington,  Mr.  Lincoln, 

ALBANY,  June  15th,  1863. 
Hon.  E.  M.  STANTON,  Secretary  of  War,  Washington  : 

Four  returned  volunteer  regiments  can  be  put  in  the  field  at  once, 
for  three  months'  service.  Can  arms  and  accoutrements  be  supplied  in 
New  York?  J.  T.  SPEAGUE, 

Adjutant-  General; 

WASHINGTON,  June  16th,  1863. 
To  Adjutant -General  SPEAGUE: 

Upon  your  requisition,  any  troops  you  may  send  to  Pennsylvania  will 
be  armed  and  equipped  in  New  York,  with  new  arms.  Orders  have 
been  given  to  the  Bureau  of  Ordnance.  EDWIN  M.  STANTON. 

WASHINGTON,  June  16*7*,  1863. 
To  Adjutant-  General  SPEAGUE  : 

The  Quartermaster-General  has  made  provision  for  the  clothing  and 
equipment  of  the  troops  that  may  go  to  Pennsylvania.  The  issues  to  be 
made  at  Harrisburg.  You  will  make  requisition  for  subsistence  and 
transportation  as  heretofore,  for  troops  forwarded  from  your  State. 

EDWIN  M.  STANTON. 

WASHINGTON,  June  16th,  1863. 
To  Act.  Asst.  Adjutant- General  STONEHOTJSE  : 

The  Quartermaster-General  has  been  directed  to  clothe  the  volunteers 
from  your  State,  upon  their  reaching  their  destination,  and  provision  has 
been  made  for  that  purpose.  EDWIN  M.  STANTON, 

Secretary  of  War. 

ALBANY,  June  16th,  1863. 
GOVEENOB  CUETIN,  Harrisburg : 

I  am  pushing  forward  troops  as  fast  as  possible,  regiments  will  leave 
New  York  to-night.  All  will  be  ordered  to  report  to  General  Couch. 

HOEATIO  SEYMOTTB. 


ALBANY,  Junel6th,  1863. 
Hon.  E.  M.  STANTON,  Secretary  of  War,  Washington,  D.  C. 

Officers  of  old  organizations  here  will  take  the  field  with  their  men, 


HIS   WAR    RECORD.  69 

taking  him  by  both  hands,  said  to  him  earnestly,  "  I 
wish  you  to  understand  that  you  cannot  possibly  use 
words  too  warm  to  convey  to  Governor  Seymour  my 

and  will  march  to-morrow  if  they  can  be  paid  irrespective  of  ordnance 
accounts.  The  Government  would  still  have  a  hold  upon  them  to  refund 
for  losses.  JOHN  T.  SPEAGUE, 

Adjutant-  General. 

ALBANY,  June  IQtJi,  1863. 
Hon.  E.  M.  ST ANTON,  Secretary  of  War,  Washington : 

By  request  of  Governor  Seymour,  who  has  called  me  here,  I  write  to 
say  that  the  New  York  city  regiments  can  go  with  full  ranks  for  any 
time  not  over  three  months — say  from  eight  to  ten  thousand  men.  The 
shorter  the  period  the  larger  will  be  the  force.  For  what  time  will  they 
be  required  ?  Please  answer  immediately. 

0.  W.  SANDFOED, 

Major- General. 


WASHINGTON,  June  IQth,  1863. 

To  Major- General  SANDFOED  : 

The  Government  will  be  glad  to  have  your  city  regiments  hasten  to 
Pennsylvania  for  any  time  of  service,  it  is  not  possible  to  say  how  long 
they  might  be  useful,  but  it  is  not  expected  that  they  would  be  detained 
more  than  three  (3)  months,  possibly  not  longer  than  twenty  (20)  or 
thirty  (30)  days. 

They  would  be  accepted  for  three  (3)  months,  and  discharged  as  soon 
as  the  present  exigency  is  over.  If  aided  at  the  present  by  your  troops 
the  people  of  that  State  might  soon  be  able  to  raise  a  sufficient  force  to 
relieve  your  city  regiments.  EDWIN  M.  STANTON, 

Secretary  of  War. 

ALBANY,  June  18th,  1863. 
To  Hon.  E.  M.  STANTON,  /Secretary  of  War,  Washington,  D.  G. 

About  twelve  thousand  (12,000)  men  are  now  on  the  move  for  Har- 
risburg,  in  good  spirits  and  well  equipped. 

The  Governor  says:  "Shall  troops  continue  to  be  forwarded?" 
Please  answer. 

Nothing  from  Washington  since  first  telegrams. 

JOHN  T.  SPEAGUE,  Adjutant- General, 


70  LIFE    OF   HOKATIO    SEYMOUR. 

thankfulness  for  his  prompt  and  efficient  help  given  to 
the  Government  in  this  crisis." 

Mr.  Lincoln  afterwards  said,  in  grateful  acknow- 

ALBANY,  June  18th,  1863. 
To  Governor  CUETIN,  Harrisburg,  Pa: 

About  twelve  thousand  men  are  now  moving  and  are  under  orders 
for  Harrisburg,  in  good  spirits  and  well  equipped. 

Governor  Seymour  desires  to  know  if  he  shall  continue  to  send  men. 
He  is  ignorant  of  your  real  condition.  JOHN  T.  SPRAGUE, 

Adjutant-  General. 

"WASHINGTON,  June  l$th,  1863. 
To  Adjutant- General  SPRAGUE: 

The  President  directs  me  to  return  his  thanks  to  his  Excellency  Gov 
ernor  Seymour  and  staff  for  their  energetic  and  prompt  action.  "Whether 
any  further  force  is  likely  to  be  required  will  be  communicated  to  you 
to-morrow,  by  which  time  it  is  expected  the  movements  of  the  enemy 
will  be  more  fully  developed.  EDWIN  M.  STANTON, 

Secretary  of  War. 

ALBANY,  June  20th,  1863. 
Hon.  E.  M.  STANTON,  Secretary  of  War,  Washington: 

The  Governor  desires  to  be  informed  if  he  shall  continue  sending  on 
the  militia  regiments  from  this  State.  If  so,  to  what  extent,  and  to  what 
point  ?  J.  B.  STONEHOUSE, 

Actfg  Asst.  Adjutant- General. 

WASHINGTON,  June  21st,  1863. 
To  Actfg  Asst.  Adjutant- General  STONEHOUSE  : 

The  President  desires  Governor  Seymour  to  forward  to  Baltimore  all 
the  militia  regiments  that  he  can  raise.  EDWIN  M.  STANTON, 

Secretary  of  War. 

HAERISBUEG,  July  2d,  1863. 
To  His  Excellency,  GOVERNOR  SEYMOUR  : 

Send  forward  more  troops  as  rapidly  as  possible.  Every  hour  in 
creases  the  necessity  for  large  forces  to  protect  Pennsylvania.  The  bat 
tles  of  yesterday  were  not  decisive,  and  if  Meade  should  be  defeated, 
unless  we  have  a  large  army,  this  State  will  be  overrun  by  the  rebels. 

A.  G.  CURTIN,  Governor  of  Penn. 


HONOR    INEFFACEABLE.  71 

ledgement  of  Governor  Seymour's  services,  that  no 
Governor  had  done  more  to  strengthen  the  United 
States  Government  in  the  hour  of  its  need,  than  Gov 
ernor  Seymour,  of  New  York.  Yet  in  the  face  of 
these  facts  the.  Republican  press  and  speakers  con 
stantly  and  unblushingly  assert  that  Mr.  Seymour 
did  his  utmost  to  paralyze  the  Government  and  aid 
the  Rebellion.  The  reckless  and  shameful  manner  in 
which  these  slanders  are  being  circulated,  and  the 
success  with  which  they  are  met  and  refuted  by  the 
Democracy,  cannot  be  better  shown  than  by  giving 
the  following  editorial  from  the  Philadelphia  Age* 
of  July  10th,  1868,  which  we  present  to  the  reader 
in  place  of  any  comments  of  our  own.  We  ask  a 
careful  perusal  of  it  : 

"  The  Press  is  prompt  in  the  work  of  defamation, 
but  lacks  the  c  long  memory  '  with  which,  according 
to  the  proverb,  it  ought  to  be  provided.  Here  is  a  spe 
cimen  of  its  efforts  yesterday  : 

;  Patriots  will  remember  that  when  Judge  Wood 
ward  was  running  for  the  Governorship  of  our  State, 
it  was  openly  asserted  by  the  Democracy  that,  should 
he  be  elected,  no  Union  troops  should  pass  to  the  front 
through  New  York  or  Pennsylvania  ;  that  Seymour 
and  Woodward  would  throttle  the  government  and  end 
the  war.' 


YORK,  July  3d,  1863. 
To  Governor  CUBTIX,  Harriiiburg,  Pa.  : 

Your  telegram  is  received.    Troops  will  continue  to  be  sent.     One 
regiment  leaves  to-day,  another  to-morrow,  all  in  good  pluck. 

JOHN  T.  SPRAGTJE, 

Adjutant-  General. 


72  LIFE    OF   HORATIO    SEYMOUR. 

"  Not  the  Democracy,  but  the  knaves  who  libeled 
them  spoke  thus,  and  in  doing  so,  gave  the  best  help 
they  could  to  the  rebellion,  in  flattering  it  with  false 
hopes  of  Northern  sympathy.  It  was  by  deeds,  not 
words,  that  the  Democracy  repelled  that  lie.  When 
the  Press  uttered  it,  in  1863,  the  streets  of  our  city 
were  glistening  with  the  bayonets  of  regiments  sent  to 
the  front  to  defend  Pennsylvania,  sent  from  New  Jer 
sey  and  New  York — by  Horatio  Seymour,  and  by 
Joel  Parker,  the  Democratic  Governors  of  those  States. 
Governor  Curtin  was  in  a  condition  of  hopeless  ineffi 
ciency.  It  was  his  party  in  this  city  who  were  slow 
to  hear  his  call  for  troops.  George  W.  Woodward  sec 
onded  it  manfully,  when  many  a  blatant  Radical  was 
dumb  with  terror.  The  candidate  of  the  Democracy, 
with  all  his  sons  in  the  field,  Judge  Woodward,  issued 
this  stirring  appeal,  in  a  letter  addressed  to  the  Chair 
man  of  the  Democratic  State  Central  Committee,  and 
published  throughout  the  State :  c  There  ought  to  be 
such  an  instant  uprising  of  young  men  in  response  to 
this  call  (Governor  Curtin's,  of  July  2G,)  as  shall  be 
sufficient  to  assure  the  public  safety,  and  to  teach  the 
world  that  no  hostile  foot  can  with  impunity  tread 
the  soil  of  Pennsylvania  (June  29,  1863).'  Pew  can 
have  forgotten  the  condition  of  things  in  this  city,  from 
which  the  opportune  victory  of  Gettysburg  relieved  it. 
It  cannot  be  better  portrayed  than  by  citing  the  public 
speech,  made  at  that  crisis  by  Governor  Curtin,  from 
the  Continental  Hotel,  on  the  1st  day  of  July,  1863. 

"If  General  Meade's  army  is  defeated,  which  God 
forbid,  I  need  not  say  to  intelligent  Pennsylvanians 


HIS   WAR   RECORD.  73 

what  is  next  to  occur.  Military  men  have  concurred 
in  the  opinion,  and  properly,  that  the  defence  of 
Pennsylvania  from  invasion — certainly  of  the  city — 
will  be  found  upon  the  banks  of  the  Susquehanna ; 
and  certainly  it  is  pleasant  for  me  to  announce  that  the 
call  made  upon  the  people  of  Pennsylvania  has  been 
responded  to  all  through  the  State  in  a  manner  much 
beyond  all  official  anticipation,  and  now  from  her  moun 
tains  and  valleys,  from  the  homes  and  public  works,  our 
loyal  and  devoted  Pennsylvanians  are  on  their  way  to 
the  place  of  rendezvous,  and  will  soon  be  in  arms  to 
protect  you  on  the  banks  of  her  great  river.  I  ask  for 
7,800  men  from  this  city.  How  soon  can  I  get  them? 
Do  not  measure  them  by  days,  let  it  be  hours.  *  *  *  * 
We  asked  for  help  from  New  York — it  has  come.  "We 
asked  for  help  from  New  Jersey — it  has  come.  New 
England  will  respond ;  but  first  let  us  show  that  we 
are  true  to  our  honor  and  protect  ourselves. — Ledger, 
July  2,  1863. 

"  Here  is  a  part  of  the  record  of  Horatio  Seymour, 
in  the  facts  of  history,  from  the  lips  of  the  Republican 
Governor:  "We  asked  for  help  from  New  York — and 
it  has  come?  We  thank  the  Press  for  uttering  a 
calumny  which  we  can  nail  to  the  counter  with  the 
strong,  sure  blows  of  truth.  The  exuberant  expres 
sions  of  gratitude  which  Mr.  Lincoln  sent  to  Governor 
Seymour  for  his  energy  and  patriotism,  we  reserve  for 
another  time.  We  have  given  the  Radicals  to-day 
some  of  the  facts  of  history — let  them  try  to  rail  them 
off  the  record." 

It  is  in  this  manner    hat  the  enemies  of  Mr.  Sey- 


74  LIFE    OF   HOEATIO   SEYMOUR. 

mour  try  to  weaken  his  cause.  They  fear  the  manly 
and  formidable  opposition  which  he  opposes  to  their 
criminal  schemes,  and  they  seek  to  destroy  his  influ 
ence  with  the  people  by  slandering  him.  Fortunately 
for  him,  his  public  acts  have  been  open,  and  done  in 
the  full  light  of  the  day,  and  the  record  of  them  is  so 
clear  that  his  vindication  is  simple  and  easy.  The  in 
famy  rests  solely  with  the  party  whose  favorite  weapon 
is  falsehood,  for  the  American  people  are  too  just  to 
sustain  such  attacks,  and  they  will  be  prompt  to  re 
ward  the  true  friend  of  the  Union  and  condemn  the 
malice  of  his  foes. 


CHAPTER  V. 

A  Brief  History  of  the  Conscription— The  System  Opposed  to  the  Spirit 
of  the  Constitution — Congress  Passes  a  Conscription  Law-^Feeling 
of  the  People  of  the  Union  upon  the  Subject — Unjustifiable  Course 
of  the  Administration  Towards  the  Opponents  of  its  Policy— No 
Necessity  for  a  Draft — Views  of  the  Democratic  Party  as  Stated  by 
the  "New  York  World"— The  Law  to  be  Tested  in  the  Courts— The 
Government  Decides  to  Enforce  the  Draft  in  New  York  City  during 
the  Absence  of  the  State  Troops — Notice  by  the  Provost-Marshal — 
Indignation  of  the  Citizens— The  Draft  Begun— The  First  Day's 
Proceedings— Hostility  of  the  Working  Men  to  the  Draft— Secret 
Meetings  in  the  Laboring  Districts — Resistance  Determined  upon — 
Monday,  July  13th— Resumption  of  the  Draft— The  First  Blow — 
Attack  upon,  and  Destruction  of  the  Provost-Marshal's  Office — The 
Riot  Begun — Heroism  of  the  Firemen — Outrages  of  the  Mob — De 
fenceless  Condition  of  the  City — Weakness  of  the  Authorities — The 
Call  for  Troops— Increase  of  the  Troubles— The  Rioters  Defeat  the 
U.  S.  Marines — Fight  on  Third  Avenue — Burning  of  the  Orphan 
Asylum — Attack  on  the  State  Armory — Gallant  Defence  by  the 
Police — Burning  of  Buildings  by  the  Mob — Attack  on  the  u  Tribune  " 
Office — Rioters  Defeated  by  the  Police — Outrages  upon  the  Negroes 
— Heroic  Conduct  of  the  Police — Arrival  of  Governor  Seymour  in  the 
City — His  Proclamation  to  the  Rioters — He  Declares  the  City  ia  a 
State  of  Insurrection — Progress  of  the  Riot — Attack  on  the  Negro 
Quarters — Murder  of  Colonel  O'Brien — Arrival  of  Troops — The 
Rioters  Defeated  by  the  Military — The  State  Troops  Ordered  Home — 
Speech  of  Governor  Seymour  to  the  Crowd  in  the  Park — Effect  of 
the  Speech — Misrepresentations  by  the  Republican  Press — Disin- 
genuousness  of  the  "  Albany  Evening  Journal " — Course  of  Arch 
bishop  Hughes — His  Speech— Comments — Return  of  the  State 
Troops — The  Riot  put  down — Slanders  of  the  Republican  Party — 
Governor  Seymour's  Course  Vindicated. 

DURING  the  absence  of  the  militia  of  the  City  of 
New  York  in  Pennsylvania,  there  occurred  the  most 


76  LIFE    OF    HORATIO    SEYMOUR, 

terrible  outbreak  that  has  ever  been  known  in  this 
country. 

Previous  to  the  year  1863,  the  recruits  for  the 
Union  army  had  been  raised  by  volunteering,  but  the 
ill  success  which  had  attended  the  Federal  arms  had 
made  it  necessary  that  the  ranks  should  be  filled  up  at 
a  more  rapid  rate,  and  the  Government  determined  to 
accomplish  this  by  a  general  conscription  throughout 
the  country.  This  determination  caused  considerable 
feeling  in  all  the  loyal  States.  The  Constitution  of 
the  United  States  provides  that  Congress  shall  have 
power,  "  To  provide  for  calling  forth  the  militia  to  exe 
cute  the  laws  of  the  Union,  suppress  insurrections,  and 
repel  invasions. 

"  To  provide  for  organizing,  arming,  and  disciplin 
ing  the  militia,  and  for  governing  such  part  of  them 
as  may  be  employed  in  the  service  of  the  United 
States,  reserving  to  the  States  respectively,  the  ap 
pointment  of  the  officers,  and  the  authority  of  training 
the  militia  according  to  the  discipline  prescribed  by 
Congress." 

Under  this  clause,  the  Administration  of  Mr.  Lin 
coln  claimed  the  right  of  the  General  Government  to 
enact  and  enforce  the  Conscription  Law ;  and  under 
this  clause,  also,  there  were  large  numbers  of  good 
and  true  men,  earnestly  devoted  to  the  cause  of  the 
Union,  who  claimed  that  the  States  alone  had  the 
right  to  raise  troops  within  their  own  limits.  Un 
fortunately  for  the  country,  the  Administration  and 
its  friends  regarded  and  treated  all  difference  of  opin 
ion  upon  this  point  as  a  crime,  and  were  not  willing 


THE    CONSCRIPTION.  77 

to  admit  that  any  man  could  be  a  true  friend  of  the 
Union  who  opposed  their  efforts  to  destroy  the  Con 
stitutional  rights  of  the  States,  and  change  the  Gov 
ernment  into  a  strong  Central  despotism.  The  leaders 
and  men  of  the  Democratic  party,  while  anxious  to 
strengthen  the  hands  of  the  Government  in  every  law 
ful  way,  were  unanimously  opposed  to  a  Federal  Con 
scription,  as  they  believed  it  a  violation  of  the  Consti 
tution,  and  an  infringement  of  the  rights  of  the  States. 
The  charge  that  the  party  was  prompted  to  this  course 
by  hostility  to  the  Union  and  sympathy  with  Seces 
sion,  is  as  absurd  as  it  is  false,  for  thousands  of  Dem 
ocratic  soldiers  and  sailors  were  already  in  the  service, 
thousands  were  daily  following  their  example,  and 
among  the  most  gallant  leaders  of  the  Union  armies 
and  navy  were  many  of  the  brightest  and  most  popular 
names  in  the  Democratic  party.  The  truth  i's  simply 
this  :  the  party  was  anxious  to  preserve  the  Union  as 
a  free  and  liberal  Government,  and  they  believed  this 
could  be  done  as  well  by  respecting  and  enforcing  the 
provisions  of  the  Constitution,  as  by  violating  and 
destroying  them.  They  were  willing  and  anxious  to 
give,  as  they  had  done,  their  support  to  any  measures 
for  raising  troops  that  the  States  might  see  fit  to 
adopt,  but  they  were  unwilling  that  the  Federal  Gov 
ernment  should  enforce  a  draft,  and  as  they  believed 
such  a  course  on  its  part  unconstitutional,  they  urged 
that  steps  should  be  taken  by  the  people  of  the  re 
spective  States,  to  test  its  Constitutionality.  The  views 
of  the  party  were  well  expressed  by  the  New  Yorlc 
World,  in  the  following  remarks  : 


78  LIFE    OF   HORATIO    SEYMOUR. 

u  Whether  the  weak  and  reckless  men  who  tem 
porarily  administer  the  Federal  Government,  are 
aware  of  the  fact  or  not,  it  is  undeniably  a  fact  that 
the  very  existence  of  the  Government  they  administer 
is  quite  as  seriously  involved  in  the  execution  of  the 
conscription  which  they  are  now  putting  in  force,  as  it- 
has  been  in  any  other  measure  or  event  of  the  war. 
The  act  itself,  which  should  never  have  been  framed, 
except  with  the  most  absolute  deference  to  the  Consti 
tution  and  on  the  broadest  attainable  basis  of  repre 
sentative  support,  was  fairly  forced  to  its  passage 
through  the  Constitution,  and  over  the  restraints  and 
decencies  of  Senatorial  debate.  Such  were  the  cir 
cumstances  which  attended  its  final  passage,  that  one 
might  almost  have  supposed  the  National  legislature 
to  be  an  oligarchic  conspiracy  plotting  a  vast  scheme 
of  military  servitude,  rather  than  the  council  of  a  great 
people  giving  form  to  its  independent  determination 
and  organizing  its  force  for  the  assertion  of  its  free 
dom.  The  idea  of  a  military  conscription  being  in  it 
self  profoundly  repugnant  to  the  American  mind,  it 
might  have  been  supposed  that  unusual  steps  would 
have  been  taken  by  the  friends  of  that  resort,  to  pre 
sent  it  with  the  utmost  possible  frankness,  and  in  the 
light  best  adapted  to  dissipate  the  popular  hostility. 

u  Nothing  of  the  sort  was  done.  A  measure  which 
could  not  have  been  ventured  upon  in  England  even 
in  those  dark  days  when  the  press-gang  filled  the  Eng 
lish  ships-of-war  with  slaves,  and  dimmed  the  glory  of 
England's  noblest  naval  heroes — a  measure  wholly  re 
pugnant  to  the  habits  and  prejudices  of  our  people — 


THE   DRAFT   RIOTS.  79 

was  thrust  into  the  statute-book,  as  one  might  say, 
almost  by  force.  It  was  riot  only  a  conscription,  but 
an  act  passed  by  conscription. 

"The  natural  consequences  followed.  Hundreds 
of  thousands  of  loyal  citizens  were  led  to  look  with 
distrust  and  concern  upon  the  passage  of  the  bill. 
Men  who  would  not  hesitate  for  a  moment  to  risk  their 
lives,  their  fortunes,  and  their  sacred  honors,  upon  the 
summons  of  any  legitimate  National  authority,  became 
discontented  and  dissatisfied  with  what  they  regarded 
(whether  justly  or  unjustly  is  not  now  to  the  point) 
as  an  unnecessary  stretch  of  Governmental  control  over 
individual  liberty." 

Measures  were  indeed  set  on  foot  to  test  the 
legality  of  the  draft,  but  before  anything  could  be  ac 
complished,  the  drafting  was  begun. 

Several  days  were  appointed  for  commencing  the 
draft,  but  for  various  reasons  it  was  each  time  post 
poned.  At  length,  however,  Colonel  Nugent,  the 
Provost-Marshal  of  New  York  City,  announced  that 
the  drawings  would  positively  begin  on  the  llth  of 
July,  1863,  and  continue  until  the  requisite  number 
of  recruits  was  obtained,  and  accordingly  the  various 
deputies  commenced  to  make  active  preparations  for 
the  work  before  them.  The  drawing  was  ordered  to 
begin  in  the  Ninth  Congressional  district,  the  head 
quarters  of  which  were  located  at  the  corner  of  Forty- 
Sixth  street  and  Third  Avenue,  and  Provost-Marshal 
Jenkins  of  that  district  gave  notice  through  the  press, 
that  the  ballots  would  be  publicly  counted  at  his  office 
on  Saturday,  July  llth,  and  that  immediately  there- 


80  LIFE    OF   HORATIO   SEYMOUE. 

after  the  names  of  the  conscripts  would  be  drawn  from 
the  wheel.  This  announcement  created  considerable 
dissatisfaction  in  the  city,  especially  with  the  working 
classes,  upon  whom  the  burden  of  the  levy  would  fall. 
These  men  knew  that  a  few  brief  hours  would  call 
many  of  them  from  the  support  of  their  families,  who 
would  be  left  without  provision  for  their  wants,  and 
they  had  already  seen  enough  of  the  suffering  of  sol 
diers1  families  to  make  them  anxious  to  shield  their 
own  households  from  such  trials.  This  was  the  real 
cause  of  the  hostility  of  the  masses  to  the  draft.  The 
feeling  which  influenced  them  may  not  have  been 
patriotism  in  the  strict  sense  of  that  term,  but  it  was 
assuredly  prompted  by  the  best  and  purest  impulses 
of  our  human  nature. 

The  draft  began,  as  had  been  announced,  on  the 
morning  of  July  llth.  A  large  crowd  surrounded  the 
office  of  the  Provost-Marshal,  but  no  effort  was  made 
to  interfere  with  the  proceedings  of  the  officials,  who, 
by  nightfall,  had  managed  to  accomplish  more  than 
they  had  expected.  Great  good-humor  prevailed 
amongst  the  spectators,  and  the  announcement  of  the 
names  of  the  conscripts  were  greeted  with  cheers  and 
laughter.  So  peaceably  did  everything  pass  off,  that 
Mr.  Kennedy,  the  Chief  of  Police,  who  had  expected 
resistance  and  had  made  arrangements  to  meet  it,  de 
clared  that  the  danger  was  over,  and  that  the  draft 
would  be  allowed  to  proceed  peaceably. 

He  was  mistaken,  however.  During  that  night 
and  the  next  day,  which  was  Sunday,  the  opposition 
to  the  draft  increased  with  unexpected  rapidity,  and 


THE    DRAFT    RIOTS.  81 

this  feeling  was  marked  by  an  excitement  which  was, 
to  say  the  least,  ominous.  The  worst  classes  of  the 
city  now  took  up  the  movement,  and  with  that  blind 
ness  which  always  characterizes  them,  resolved  upon  a 
forcible  resistance  to  the  action  of  the  Government. 
Associations  were  formed  at  various  places  in  the 
poorer  quarters  of  the  city,  some  meeting  openly,  and 
some  in  secret,  but  in  all,  the  same  measures  were  ad 
vocated  and  determined  upon.  It  was  resolved  by 
these  men  that  the  draft  should  be  forcibly  stopped 
the  next  day. 

Monday  morning,  July  13th,  found  the  city  astir 
at  an  early  hour,  and  full  of  excitement.  In  the  la 
boring  districts  those  w^ho  had  resolved  to  resist  the 
draft  were  very  active.  In  accordance  with  their  pre 
arranged  plan,  they  sent  organized  bodies  of  men  from 
workshop  to  workshop,  and  from  yard  to  yard,  to 
compel  the  workmen  to  abandon  their  labor  and  join 
the  various  processions  which  were  forming  at  different 
points  in  the  city.  There  was  very  little  noise  or  con 
fusion,  but  an  observer  could  not  help  noticing  that 
matters  wore  a  most  threatening  aspect.  The  proces 
sions  were  led  by  resolute  and  desperate  men,  and  as 
soon  as  formed  were  marched  towards  the  scene  of  the 
drafting. 

.  The  office  of  Provost-Marshal  Jenkins  was  sur 
rounded  by  a  dense  crowd  at  an  early  hour  in  the 
morning,  and  as  soon  as  it  was  opened,  was  filled  by 
the  populace  to  such  an  extent  that  the  officials  had 
barely  room  to  discharge  their  duties.  The  draft  was 
scarcely  resumed  when  a  huge  paving  stone,  thrown 
6 


82  LIFE    OF   HORATIO    SEYMOUR. 

from  the  street,  came  crashing  through  the  window, 
shattering  it,  injuring  one  or  two  of  the  spectators,  and 
doing  some  damage  to  the  table  assigned  to  the  re 
porters  for  the  newspapers.  This  was  instantly  fol 
lowed  by  a  second  and  a  third  missile,  and  without 
further  warning,  the  mob  with  a  yell  of  rage  made  a 
rush  towards  the  office.  The  doors  were  broken  down, 
and  the  crowd  swept  into  the  room.  The  furniture 
of  the  office  was  demolished  in  an  instant,  but  the 
officials  with  difficulty  succeeded  in  preserving  the 
wheel  containing  the  names  of  the  enrolled.  Nothing 
else  was  saved,  however.  Captain  Jenkins  escaped 
uninjured,  and  the  reporters  for  the  press  were  equally 
fortunate,  but  Lieutenant  Vanderpool,  one  of  the  dep 
uties,  was  brutally  beaten  by  the  crowd,  and  carried 
home  for  dead.  The  fury  of  the  multitude  increased 
every  moment,  and  everything  connected  with  the 
office  was  broken  into  the  smallest  fragments.  Not 
content  with  this,  some  one  proposed  to  burn  the 
building.  The  upper  stories  were  filled  with  women 
and  children,  against  whom  the  mob  had  not  the 
slightest  cause  of  complaint,  but  regardless  of  this,  the 
ruffians  poured  camphene  over  the  lower  floor,  and  set 
fire  to  it,  and  in  a  few  minutes  the  place  was'  in  flames. 
The  alarm  of  fire  was  sounded,  and  the  fire  brigade 
under  Chief  Engineer  Decker,  promptly  arrived  on 
the  spot,  but  the  rioters  seized  the  hydrants  and  drove 
the  firemen  away  from  them.  Mr.  Decker  courage 
ously  threw  himself  into  the  crowd,  and  by  his  exer 
tions  and  appeals  to  the  mob,  succeeded  in  inducing 
them  to  allow  the  engines  to  be  worked.  It  was  too 


THE    DRAFT   RIOTS.  83 

late,  however,  and  in  two  hours  from  the  beginning 
of  the  outbreak,  the  entire  block  of  which  the  Provost- 
Marshal's  office  was  the  corner  building,  was  in  ashes. 
Mr.  Kennedy,  the  Chief  of  Police,  also  exerted  him 
self  gallantly  to  check  the  disorder,  but  was  badly 
beaten. 

While  these  things  were  going  on  in  the  upper  part 
of  the  city,  another  mob  collected  lower  down  town, 
and  commenced  a  course  of  indiscriminate  violence 
and  plunder.  Citizens  were  attacked,  beaten,  and 
robbed — no  mercy  being  shown  to  any  one  thus  as 
sailed.  A  reporter  of  the  New  York  Times  was  cruelly 
beaten  and  robbed  of  his  watch  and  valuables.  He 
was  rescued  from  his  assailants  by  some  firemen  and 
taken  to  a  neighboring  engine-house.  This  building 
was  immediately  attacked,  and  had  not  some  incident 
drawn  the  mob  away  from  it,  the  unfortunate  reporter 
would  doubtless  have  been  murdered. 

Matters  were  serious,  indeed.  The  city  was  almost 
defenceless.  The  militia  regiments  had  been  sent  to 
Pennsylvania  by  the  Governor,  and  there  were  no 
troops  on  the  island.  Officers  of  all  grades  there  were 
in  abundance,  but  few  men  to  sustain  them.  General 
Wool,  of  the  regular  army,  was  in  command  of  the 
city  and  its  defences,  and  Major-General  Sandford,  of 
the  militia,  was  the  commander  of  the  State  troops  of 
the  first  division,  almost  all  of  whom,  as  we  have  said, 
were  on  duty  in  Pennsylvania.  As  soon  as  the  news 
of  the  riot  became  known,  these  gentlemen  and  the 
mayor  of  the  city,  Mr.  Opdyke,  met  to  concert  meas 
ures  to  check  the  disturbance.  The  task  before  them 


84  LIFE    OF    HORATIO    SEYMOUR. 

was  one  of  great  difficulty.  There  were  very  few  men 
in  the  city  capable  of  bearing  arms,  who  could  be  re 
lied  upon,  and  the  force  at  the  various  harbor  defences, 
and  at  the  navy  yard,  was  very  small.  The  city  was 
completely  panic  stricken.  Business  of  all  kinds  was 
suspended,  and  the  trouble  was  increasing.  Those  who 
knew  the  character  of  the  mob,  were  filled  with  great 
alarm.  As  the  best  that  could  be  done,  the  police 
were  ordered  to  hold  themselves  in  readiness  to  dis 
perse  the  rioters,  the  commandant  of  the  navy  yard 
was  called  on  for  a  detachment  of  marines,  the  same 
demand  made  upon  the  commanders  of  the  forts,  and 
the  news  of  the  riot  and  the  defenceless  condition  of 
the  city  telegraphed  to  Washington  and  to  Albany. 
General  Wool,  as  commander  of  the  Department  of 
the  East,  issued  the  following  call  to  "  veteran  volun 
teers  : " 

"The  veterans  who  have  recently  returned  from 
the  field  of  battle,  have  again  an  opportunity  of  serv 
ing,  not  only  their  country,  but  the  great  emporium  of 
New  York,  from  the  threatened  dangers  of  a  ruthless 
mob. 

"The  Commanding  General  of  the  Eastern  Depart 
ment  trusts  that  those  who  have  exhibited  so  much 
bravery  in  the  field  of  battle,  will  not  hesitate  to  come 
forward  at  this  time,  to  tender  their  services  to  the 
mayor,  to  stay  the  ravages  of  the  city  by  men  who 
have  lost  all  sense  of  obligations  to  their  country,  as 
well  as  to  the  city  of  New  York. 

"  JOHN  E.  WOOL,  Major-General. 


THE    DRAFT    RIOTS.  85 

"P.  S. — These  men  are  requested  to  report  to 
Major- General  Sandford,  corner  of  Elm  and  White 
streets,  on  Tuesday,  July  14th,  at  10  A.  M." 

The  Board  of  Aldermen  of  the  city  met  at  half- 
past  one  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  but  soon  after  ad 
journed,  as  there  was  no  quorum  present.  It  was 
generally  believed  that  some  decisive  action  on  the 
part  of  the  city  authorities  for  the  purpose  of  aiding 
the  poorer  conscripts  in  providing  substitutes,  would 
check  the  riot,  and  Alderman  Hall  proposed  a  measure 
to  that  effect ;  upon  which,  however,  no  action  was 
taken  that  day. 

Meanwhile,  the  mob  that  had  burned  the  Provost- 
Marshal's  office,  had  increased  in  numbers.  The  thieves 
and  malefactors  of  the  city  joined  themselves  to  the 
rioters  in  the  hope  of  reaping  a  rich  harvest  of  plun 
der,  which  expectation  was  fully  realized.  They  gath 
ered  in  force  in  the  vicinity  of  Forty- Sixth  street  and 
Third  Avenue,  and  detachments  of  the  main  body  set 
fire  to  and  plundered  several  fine  brown-stone  resi 
dences  on  Lexington  Avenue.  While  this  was  going 
on,  a  detachment  of  about  fifty  marines  from  the 
Brooklyn  Navy  Yard,  in  charge  of  a  lieutenant,  was 
seen  approaching  in  a  Third  Avenue  horse-car.  The 
mob  at  once  prepared  to  receive  them.  Tearing  up 
the  rails,  they  rendered  it  impossible  for  the  car  to  be 
drawn  beyond  Forty-Third  street,  and  at  that  point, 
several  thousand  men,  women,  and  children  stood  anx 
iously  waiting  for  the  storming  party  of  fifty.  Many 
of  them,  particularly  the  women,  were  armed  with 


86  LIFE    OF    HORATIO    SEYMOUR. 

pieces  of  thick  telegraph  wire,  which  they  had  broken 
from  the  lines,  and  which,  as  will  be  seen,  they  used 
with  great  effect.  Such  a  scene  has  rarely  been  wit 
nessed  ;  the  men  were  sober  and  quiet,  but  malignant 
and  fearful  in  their  aspect ;  the  women,  on  the  con 
trary,  were  merry,  singing  and  dancing ;  they  cheered 
their  husbands,  chatted  gaily  with  bystanders,  and 
boasted  of  what  should  yet  be  done  by  their  brawny 
arms.  As  the  car,  containing  the  marines,  reached 
the  centre  of  the  block,  the  lieutenant  in  command  or 
dered  the  men  to  leave  and  form  in  line.  Small  groups 
and  gatherings  of  women  <,  and  children  greeted  them 
with  hisses  and  derisive  cheers ;  to  these  they  paid  no 
attention,  but  marched  toward  the  larger  mob  at  the 
corner.  The  lieutenant  called  upon  the  crowd  to  dis 
perse,  but  no  further  notice  was  taken  of  the  command 
than  a  sullen  refusal.  He  then  ordered  his  men  to  fire, 
which  they  did,  with  blank  cartridges,  and  of  course, 
with  blank  effect.  The  smoke  had  not  cleared  away 
before  the  infuriated  mob  rushed  with  vengeance  upon 
the  little  band,  broke  them  into  confusion,  seized  their 
muskets,  trampled  them  under  foot,  beat  them  with 
sticks,  punched  them  with  the  long  wires,  and  laughed 
at  their  impotence.  Several  of  the  marines  managed 
to  escape  into  the  side  streets,  but  each  fugitive  had 
his  gang  of  temporary  pursuers,  and  quite  a  number 
were  killed,  while  all  were  terribly  beaten.  From  this 
moment  the  spirit  of  the  mob  seemed  changed.  Re 
sistance  was  no  longer  thought  of:  attack  was  the 
watchword.  A  squad  of  police  attempted  to  arrest 
some  of  the  ringleaders  at  this  point,  but  they  were 


THE    DRAFT   RIOTS.  87 

signally  defeated,  badly  beaten,  and  one  of  them  was 
killed.  Elated  with  tliis  triumph,  excited  by  the 
spilled  blood,  and  the  instinct  of  passion,  the  mob 
seemed  beside  themselves,  and  proposed  an  immediate 
onslaught  upon  the  principal  streets,  the  hotels,  and 
other  public  buildings. 

Soon  after  this,  the  Colored  Orphan  Asylum,  a 
handsome  edifice,  situated  on  Fifth  Avenue,  between 
Forty-third  and  Forty-fourth  streets,  was  attacked  by 
the  mob.  This  building  contained  at  the  time  between 
700  and  800  children,  and  one  would  have  thought 
that  the  helplessness  of  these  little  ones  would  have 
been  an  ample  protection  to  them.  It  was  not  so, 
however.  Elated  by  the  defeat  of  the  marines,  the 
rioters  hurried  to  Fifth  Avenue,  and  surrounded  the 
asylum.  The  doors  and  windows  were  broken  in,  and 
the  ruffians  rushed  into  the  building.  They  drove  the 
women  and  nurses  out,  kicked  and  beat  the  helpless 
children,  seized  everything  they  could  lift,  threw  their 
plunder  into  the  streets,  where  it  was  collected  and 
carried  off  by  their  women,  and  then  set  fire  to  the 
building.  Chief  Engineer  Decker,  who  had  followed 
the  mob  from  Third  Avenue,  now  rushed  into  the 
building,  extinguished  the  flames,  arid  drove  the  riot 
ers  back.  His  efforts  were  in  vain,  however.  The 
boys  fired  the  building  in  another  quarter,  protected  in 
their  infamous  work  by  the  men,  and  the  Asylum  was 
soon  in  a  mass  of  flames.  Having  accomplished  this, 
the  mob  gathered  up  its  plunder,  and  withdrew  to 
another  part  of  the  city. 

While  this  was  going  on  another  band  of  rioters 

. 
I  TIN  I  v 


88  LIFE    OF    HORATIO    SEYMOUR. 

made  a  furious  attack  upon  the  State  Armory,  situated 
at  the  corner  of  Twenty-First  street  and  Second  Ave 
nue,  in  the  effort  to  get  possession  of  the  arms  which 
the  Government  had  stored  in  that  building.  The 
armory  was  in  charge  of  a  squad  of  policemen,  who  had 
orders  from  the  city  authorities  to  prevent  the  entrance 
of  any  person.  The  mob  at  this  point  numbered  sev 
eral  thousand  determined  men,  and  it  was  plain  that 
the  police  would  be  forced  to  yield.  Finding  the 
building  closed  against  them,  the  rioters  broke  down 
the  doors  with  sledge  hammers  and  stones,  and  rushed 
in.  The  police  received  them  with  a  discharge  from 
their  pistols,  which  killed  two  men.  The  mob  swayed 
back  at  this,  but  in  an  instant  rushed  in  again.  The 
police  fired  another  volley,  killing  three  more  men. 
The  rioters,  undismayed  by  this,  dashed  at  the  brave 
little  garrison,  and  a  severe  hand  to  hand  fight  ensued, 
in  which  the  police,  being  outnumbered,  were  forced 
to  make  their  escape  by  a  back  door.  Having  thus 
secured  the  building,  the  mob  fired  it  and  burned  it  to 
the  ground. 

About  noon,  the  office  of  Provost-Marshal  Manierre, 
at  the  corner  of  Broadway  and  Twenty-Eighth  street, 
was  sacked  and  set  on  fire,  and  the  entire  block,  of 
which  this  was  the  centre  building,  was  destroyed.  A 
demand  was  made  upon  the  proprietor  of  the  famous 
Bull's  Head  Tavern,  on  Forty-Fourth  street,  between 
Lexington  and  Fourth  Avenues,  that  he  should  furnish 
Liquor  to  the  crowd.  He  refused  to  do  so,  and  his 
house  was  plundered  and  destroyed  by  fire.  The  re 
sidences  of  Provost-Marshal  Jenkins,  Post-Master 


THE    DRAFT    RIOTS.  89 

Wakeman,  and  several  other  buildings  were  also 
burned. 

About  five  o'clock  the  mob  moved  down  from 
Forty-Sixth  street  to  the  City  Hall  Park,  where  they 
were  joined  by  a  detachment  of  boys  and  men  who  had 
gathered  in  front  of  the  Tribune  office,  where  they  had 
been  frightening  Mr.  Greeley  and  his  associates  with 
their  yells  and  groans.  This  demonstration  had  been 
harmless,  however,  but  now  a  rush  was  made  at  the 
office,  the  doors  were  burst  open,  the  inmates  put  to 
flight,  the  furniture  of  the  lower  room  broken  to  pieces, 
and  preparations  made  to  burn  the  building.  This 
outrage  was  prevented  by  the  sudden  -arrival  of  a  de 
tachment  of  police,  who  made  a  gallant  charge  upon 
the  crowd,  drove  them  off,  and  saved  the  building. 
This  movement  of  the  police  was  so  sudden  and  vigor 
ous  that  it  struck  terror  to  the  rioters,  and  they  fled  in 
every  direction. 

The  negroes  were  the  especial  objects  of  the  fury  of 
the  mob.  During  the  day  at  least  a  dozen  were  brutal 
ly  murdered.  Others  were  driven  into  the  'river, 
beaten,  or  forced  to  leave  the  city.  Whenever  a  negro 
was  so  unfortunate  as  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  mob, 
he  was  treated  with  the  most  savage  cruelty.  The 
rioters  seemed  to  lose  all  humanity  when  dealing  with 
the  blacks.  Indeed,  their  conduct  toward  all  their  vic 
tims,  both  white  and  black,  was  as  cowardly  as  it  was 
inhuman. 

Throughout  the  whole  day  the  city  was  practically 
at  the  mercy  of  the  mob,  and  but  for  the  police  force, 
the  only  organized  resistance  which  could  be  opposed 


90  LIFE    OF   HORATIO    SEYMOUR. 

to  the  ruffians,  the  damage  done  would  have  been  much 
greater.  The  police  did  their  whole  duty  nobly.  They 
made  frequent  attacks  upon  the  mob  in  the  streets,  al 
ways  winning  the  victory  and  preventing  further  out 
rage,  and  during  the  entire  day  and  night  of  the  13th 
they  alone  protected  the  city. 

As  soon  as  Governor  Seymour  was  informed  of  the 
condition  of  affairs  in  New  York,*  he  left  Albany  and 

*  The  subjoined  article  is  taken  from  the  Cincinnati  Enquirer.  It 
is  written,  says  that  paper,  by  a  gentleman  who  was  in  the  employ  of  the 
Telegraph  Company  in  New  York  at  the  time  of  the  riots,  and  who  speaks 
from  his  own  knowledge  of  the  facts  of  the  case : 

CINCINNATI,  July  21,  1868. 
To  t?ie  Editor  of  the  Enquirer  : 

The  Radical  papers  of  this  and  other  cities  seem  to  find  in  the  July 
(1863)  riots  of  New  York,  a  sweet  morsel  for  rolling  under  their  tongues 
when  all  other  subjects  for  vituperation  of  Governor  Seymour  fail.  From 
constant  contact  with  the  virulent  properties  of  the  aforesaid  tongues  for 
falsity  and  misrepresentation  they  F eem  to  gain  new  strength  and  comfort, 
and  like  the  old  gentleman  famous  for  Munchausen  stories,  the  oftener 
they  repeat  the  tale  the  more  they  seem  to  believe  it  themselves.  These 
journals  seem  to  delight  in  fathering  the  riots  of  those  days  on  Governor 
Seymour,  and  maliciously  and  falsely  charging  that  no  attempt  was  made 
by  Governor  Seymour  to  suppress  the  mobs.  The  position  which  I  held 
at  the  time  in  New  York  State  gives  me  the  opportunity  of  making  a  state 
ment  in  contradiction  of  these  charges,  which,  if  necessary,  can  be  veri 
fied  by  several  gentlemen,  Republicans  and  Democrats,  who  were  asso 
ciated  with  me  at  the  time.  It  is  well  known  that  among  the  first  acts 
of  the  rioters  was  the  destruction  of  all,  or  nearly  all,  the  telegraph  wires 
leading  from  the  city  to  the  Capital  at  Albany,  thus  hoping  to  cut  off 
means  of  communication  between  the  Governor  and  the  municipal  au 
thorities  from  the  Adjutant-General's  office  in  Albany,  from  whence  orders 
for  the  movement  of  troops  would  be  issued.  Every  wire  was  cut,  the 
poles  thrown  for  a  great  distance  through  the  streets,  with  the  single  ex 
ception  of  one  wire  connecting  Jersey  City  with  New  York,  through  a 
cable  unknown  to  the  mob.  This  wire  was  owned  by  the  Erie  Railroad, 
and  intended  for  their  business  alone.  Governor  Seymour  took  posses 
sion  of  this,  lino,  and  in  the  language  of  telegraphers  kept  it  red  hot  for 


THE    DRAFT   KIOTS.  91 

hastened  to  the  scene  of  danger,  reaching  the  city  on 
Monday  night.  On  the  morning  of  the  14th  he  issued 
the  following  proclamation : 

three  days  and  nights,  transmitting  orders  for  his  Adjutant-General,  by 
the  circuitous  route  from  Jersey  City  via  Binghamton  to  Utica,  New- 
York,  and  from  thence  back  to  Albany,  for  the  organization  and  imme 
diate  marching  orders  of  a  sufficient  force  of  State  militia  to  quell  the  dis 
turbance.  In  a  very  short  time  companies  and  regiments  were  formed 
and  sent  forward  without  delay,  many  of  them  composed  in  pnrt  or  wholly 
of  the  "brutal  Irishmen"  that  haunt  our  Eadical  friends'  slumbers. 
Everything  that  was  possible  was  done  with  the  limited  and  uncertain 
means  of  communication  in  the  hands  of  the  Governor.  "While  the  Re 
publican  Mayor,  Opdyke,  was  trembling  in  his  shoes  behind  the  City  Hall 
doors,  Governor  Seymour,  alone  and  unprotected,  stood  manfully  forth, 
and  by  the  use  of  calm  words  recalled  the  insane  rioters  to  a  sense  of 
their  duty  as  citizens,  promising  them  that  claims  should  be  heard  and 
their  wrongs,  if  any  existed,  should  be  righted.  His  cool  manner  and 
earnest  assurances  of  his  intention  to  investigate  any  grounds  they  had 
for  complaint,  had  the  effect  of  quieting  the  passions  of  a  populace  in  a 
manner  that  could  not  have  been  done  by  three  times  their  number  of 
armed  men.  Yet  these  Radical  papers,  from  behind  their  breastworks 
of  print-paper  with  coffee-mill  rifles  for  defence,  set  up  a  howl  of  rage 
because  this  one  man  did  not  stand  there  and  denounce  the  rioters  as 
thieves,  cut-throat?,  murderers,  incendiaries,  and  such  like  invectives. 
The  effect  of  such  language  upon  a  mass  of  people  excited  to  feelings  worse 
than  insanity  itself  by  real  or  imaginary  wrongs,  would  have  been  like 
adding  fuel  to  the  fire.  Numerous  were  the  verbal  and  written  expres 
sions  of  gratitude  received  from  the  citizens  of  New  York  for  his  efforts 
in  quelling  the  riot — prominent  among  them  the  names  of  gentlemen  who, 
though  they  differed  from  him  in  political  views,  yet  had  the  manliness 
to  express  their  thanks  and  appreciation  of  efforts  which  were  and  are 
continually  being  denied  by  those  who  knew  nothing  of  the  facts,  or  per 
verted  what  they  did  know.  The  citizens  of  Central  New  York,  regard 
less  of  politics,  know  and  respect  Horatio  Seymour  as  a  Christian  gentle 
man,  against  whom  charges  of  complicity  in,  and  encouragement  of,  riot- 
ism  and  mob  law  rebound  to  the  injury  of  the  authors  of  such  falsehoods. 
After  the  fall  of  Vicksburg,  when  the  Eastern  troops  were  being  sent 
home  via  the  New  York  Central  Railroad,  dying  by  the  score  on  the  route 
for  want  of  proper  food,  rest,  and  medical  attendance,  Governor  Seymour 


92  LIFE    OF   HORATIO    SEYMOUR. 

"NEW  YORK,  July  Uth,  1863. 
"  To  the  People  of  the  City  of  New  York: 

"  A  riotous  demonstration  in  your  city,  originating 
in  opposition  to  the  conscription  of  soldiers  for  the  mili 
tary  service  of  the  United  States,  has  swelled  into  vast 
proportions,  directing  its  fury  against  the  property 
arid  lives  of  peaceful  citizens.  I  know  that  many  who 
have  participated  in  these  proceedings  would  not  have 
allowed  themselves  to  be  carried  to  such  extremes  of 
violence  and  of  wrong,  except  under  an  apprehension 
of  injustice,  but  such  persons  are  reminded  that  the 
only  opposition  to  the  conscription  which  can  be  allowed, 
is  an  appeal  to  the  courts. 

and  his  brother,  Hon.  John  F.  Seymour,  while  returning  from  a  mission 
ary  Sunday-school,  near  Utica,  one  Sunday  evening,  suggested  to  the 
writer  of  this  article  arid  some  other  friends  that  the  soldiers  be  fed  and 
cared  for  on  their  passage  through  the  city.  The  idea  was  acted  upon  at 
once.  In  two  hours  a  regiment  was  expected.  Mr.  Seymour  made  a 
detail  to  solicit  contributions  of  food,  coffee,  tea,  wines,  cordials,  etc.,  for 
the  soldiers,  and  by  the  time  the  regiment  arrived  more  than  sufficient 
was  collected  to  feed  and  refresh  the  worn-out  and  haggard-looking  men. 
Several  were  taken  from  the  train  and  cared  for  in  the  city  until  they  re 
covered,  at  Mr.  Seymour's  expense.  This  impromptu  suggestion  led  to 
the  formation  of  a  society,  with  Mr.  Seymour  at  its  head,  that  provided 
refreshments  and  medical  care  for  twenty-five  or  thirty  regiments  from 
Maine,  New  Hampshire,  Connecticut,  Khode  Island,  and  other  States. 
Mr.  John  F.  Seymour,  a  gentleman  of  the  same  political  opinions  as  his 
brother,  was  State  Agent  for  New  York  in  the  Army  of  the  Potomac 
during  the  war,  and  by  his  care  and  attention  to  the  soldiers  in  that  army, 
gained  for  himself  and  the  State  authorities  manifold  blessings  from  the 
thousands  whose  lives  were  saved  and  health  regained  by  his  personal 
devotion  to  their  wants.  Hundreds  of  mothers  and  children  blessed  him 
from  their  hearts  for  restoring  to  their  lives  and  homes  the  only  ones 
whom  they  had  to  care  for  and  protect  them  ;  and  yet  he,  like  his  brother, 
was  called  a  copperhead,  traitor,  and  rebel  sympathizer,  by  the  Radicals, 
because  he  dared  to  differ  from  the  powers  that  were  in  political  views. 
Out  upon  such  Pharisees! 


THE   DRAFT   RIOTS.  .       93 

"  The  right  of  every  citizen  to  make  such  an  appeal 
will  be  maintained,  and  the  decision  of  the  courts  must 
be  respected  and  obeyed  by  rulers  and  people  alike. 
No  other  course  is  consistent  with  the  maintenance  of 
the  laws,  the  peace  and  order  of  the  city,  and  the  safety 
of  its  inhabitants. 

"  Riotous  proceedings  must,  and  shall,  be  put  down. 
The  laws  of  the  State  of  New  York  must  be  enforced, 
its  peace  and  order  maintained,  and  the  lives  and  prop 
erty  of  all  its  citizens  protected  at  any  and  every  haz 
ard.  The  rights  of  every  citizen  will  be  properly 
guarded  and  defended  by  the  Chief  Magistrate  of  the 
State. 

"  I  do,  therefore,  call  upon  all  persons  engaged  in 
these  riotous  proceedings,  to  retire  to  their  homes  and 
employments,  declaring  to  them  that  unless  they  do 
so  at  once,  I  shall  use  all  the  power  necessary  to  re 
store  the  peace  and  order  of  the  city.  I  also  call  upon 
all  well-disposed  persons  not  enrolled  for  the  preserva 
tion  of  order,  to  pursue  their  ordinary  avocations. 

"  Let  all  citizens  stand  firmly  by  the  constituted  au 
thorities,  sustaining  law  and  order  in  the  city,  and 
ready  to  answer  any  such  demand  as  circumstances 
may  render  necessary  for  me  to  make  upon  their  servi 
ces  ;  and  they  may  rely  upon  a  rigid  enforcement  of 
the  laws  of  this  State  against  all  who  violate  them. 
"  HORATIO  SEYMOUR,  Governor." 

This  proclamation  produced  no  effect  upon  the 
mob,  and  it  soon  became  evident  to  the  Governor  that 
he  would  be  compelled  to  use  more  severe  measures 


94  LIFE    OF    HORATIO    SEYMOUR, 

for  the  repression  of  the  disorders.  He  at  once  issued 
the  following  proclamation,  declaring  the  city  in  a  state 
of  insurrection : 

"NEW  YORK,  July  UtJi,  1863. 

"TFftereas,  It  is  manifest  that  combinations  for  for 
cible  resistance  to  the  laws  of  the  State  of  New  York 
and  the  execution  of  civil  and  criminal  process  exist 
in  the  city  and  county  of  New  York,  whereby  the  peace 
and  safety  of  the  city,  and  the  lives  and  property  of  its 
inhabitants,  are  endangered  ;  and 

u  Whereas,  The  power  of  the  said  city  and  county 
has  been  exerted  and  is  not  sufficient  to  enable  the 
officers  of  the  said  city  and  county  to  maintain  the 
laws  of  the  State  and  execute  the  legal  process  of  its 
officers  ;  and 

u  Whereas,  Application  has  been  made  to  rne  by  the 
sheriff  of  the  city  and  county  of  New  York,  to  declare 
the  said  city  and  county  to  be  in  a  state  of  insur 
rection  ; 

"  Now  therefore,  I,  Horatio  Seymour,  Governor  of 
the  State  of  New  York,  and  commander-in-chief  of  the 
forces  of  the  same,  do  in  its  name,  and  by  its  authority, 
issue  this  proclamation,  in  accordance  with  the  statute 
in  such  case  made  and  provided,  and  do  hereby  de 
clare  the  city  and  county  of  New  York  to  be  in  a 
state  of  insurrection,  and  give  notice  to  all  persons  that 
the  means  provided  by  the  laws  of  this  State  for  the 
maintenance  of  law  and  order  will  be  employed  to 
whatever  degree  may  be  necessary,  and  that  all  persons 
who  shall,  after  the  publication  of  this  proclamation, 
resist,  or  aid  and  assist  in  resisting,  any  force  ordered 


THE    DRAFT    RIOTS.  95 

out  by  the  Governor  to  quell  or  suppress  such  insur 
rection,  will  render  themselves  liable  to  the  penalties 
prescribed  by  law. 

"  HORATIO  SEYMOUR." 

This  proclamation  was  as  impotent  as  the  other. 
The  riot  had  become  too  formidable,  and  the  rioters 
too  much  emboldened  to  be  put  down  by  any  thing  but 
brute  force. 

On  Tuesday  morning,  July  14th,  the  city  was 
gloomy  enough.  The  stores  were  closed,  business  was 
suspended  every  where,  and  the  citizens  were  preparing 
each  one  to  make  such  defence  of  his  home  and  prop 
erty  as  lay  in  his  power.  The  police  had  been  inde 
fatigable  in  their  exertions  during  the  night ;  but  it  was 
evident  that  these  brave  fellows  would  not  be  able  to 
contend  successfully  with  the  miscreants  for  an  in 
definite  time.  General  Wool  had  placed  General  Har 
vey  Brown  in  command  of  the  city,  and  had  also  given 
the  same  command  to  General  Sandford ;  and  this  con 
fusion  led  to  difficulties  during  the  day  which  were 
almost  fatal  to  the  cause  of  order.  The  commanding 
officers  of  the  various  harbor  forts  had  sent  detach 
ments  to  the  place  of  rendezvous  appointed  by  General 
Sandford,  and  a  small  force  of  militia  and  volunteers 
had  been  collected,  so  that  the  authorities  were  now  in 
a  condition  to  make  some  progress  in  restoring  order. 

The  rioters  had  been  greatly  reinforced  during  the 
night,  however,  and  early  in  the  morning  resumed 
their  outrages.  They  directed  their  hostility  princi 
pally  against  the  negroes.  No  mercy  was  shown  to 


96  LIFE    OF    HORATIO    SEYMOUR. 

the  blacks.  Their  neighborhoods  were  invaded,  many 
buildings  fired,  and  old  men  and  feeble  women  beaten 
most  brutally.  Wherever  a  negro  was  caught  by  the 
rioters,  he  was  murdered. 

During  the  day,  Colonel  O'Brien,  at  the  head  of  a 
detachment  of  his  regiment  succeeded  in  dispersing  a 
mob  on  Third  Avenue.  In  the  confusion  of  the  charge, 
he  sprained  his  ankle,  and  went  into  a  drug  store  in 
Thirty-Second  street  to  rest,  while  his  command  fol 
lowed  up  the  rioters.  After  the  troops  passed  on,  a 
crowd  collected  around  the  store,  and  the  proprietor, 
fearing  that  his  property  would  be  destroyed,  requested 
the  Colonel  to  leave  the  place.  O'Brien  at  once  com 
plied  with  his  request,  and  went  out  into  the  street 
alone,  but  undaunted.  He  was  instantly  received  by 
the  mob  with  abuse  for  his  course  in  dispersing  their 
friends.  He  answered  them  calmly,  and  urged  them 
to  go  home  and  submit  to  the  laws ;  but  while  he  was 
speaking,  some  cowardly  ruffian  crept  behind  him  and 
struck  him  a  blow,  which  laid  him  senseless  upon  the 
ground.  The  brutal  crowd  instantly  fell  upon  him  and 
beat  him  unmercifully ;  and  seizing  his  almost  lifeless 
body,  dragged  it  through  the  streets  with  shouts  and 
groans  for  several  hours,  and  finally  dragged  it  in  front 
of  his  residence,  where  they  heaped  the  most  brutal  in 
sults  upon  it.  A  priest  of  the  Catholic  Church,  cour 
ageously  forced  his  way  through  the  crowd,  and  read 
over  the  body  the  prayers  for  the  dying.  This  done, 
he  ordered  the  remains  to  be  taken  into  the  house,  and 
hastened  away  to  another  point  where  he  hoped  to  do 
good ;  but  he  had  hardly  departed  when  a  brutal  sav- 


THE    DRAFT    EIOTS.  97 

age  stamped  upon  the  corpse,  which  was  also  done  by 
many  others. 

The  military  were  very  active  during  the  day,  and 
several  conflicts  occurred  between  them  and  the  mob, 
in  which  the  latter,  were  invariably  defeated.  A  crowd 
of  about  two  thousand  men  had  collected  at  the  corner 
of  Grand  and  Pitt  streets.  Lieutenant  Wood,  with 
one  hundred  and  fifty  regulars  from  Fort  Lafayette, 
was  sent  to  clear  the  street.  Upon  reaching  the  place, 
he  ordered  the  crowd  to  disperse,  and  was  answered 
with  a  volley  of  paving  stones.  He  then  caused  his 
men  to  fire  over  the  heads  of  the  rioters,  with  the  hope 
of  intimidating  them ;  but  this  producing  no  effect,  he 
ordered  the  troops  to  fire  with  ball-cartridges.  Twelve 
persons  were  killed  and  several  wounded  by  this  dis 
charge,  and  the  rioters  fled  in  every  direction.  Two 
children  were  among  the  killed.  In  various  parts  of 
the  city,  efforts  were  made  by  the  mob  to  resist  the 
troops ;  but  as  soon  as  ball-cartridges  were  used  by  the 
latter,  all  resistance  ceased. 

In  this  way,  the  trouble  was  made  less  formidable ; 
but  still,  as  the  crowds  would  reassemble  immediately 
after  being  dispersed,  the  authorities  found  that  it 
would  be  necessary  to  adopt  some  more  extensive  plan 
of  operations.  The  militia  regiments  which  had  been 
sent  to  Pennsylvania  had  been  ordered  home  by  the 
Secretary  of  War,  and  other  troops  were  on  their  way 
to  the  city  from  Meade's  army,  as  were  also  the  militia 
from  the  interior  of  the  State.  Still,  it  was  necessary 
to  act  promptly ;  for  much  damage  might  be  done  by 
the  mob  before  this  aid  arrived. 
7 


98  LIFE    OF    HORATIO    SEYMOUR. 

About  noon,  a  large  crowd  had  assembled  in  front 
of  the  Tribune  office.  These  people  made  no  unlawful 
demonstration,  though  a-  man  was  haranguing  them, 
and  urging  them  to  attack  the  Tribune  office.  At  this 
moment,  Governor  Seymour,  who  hjad  been  urged  by 
leading  citizens  to  address  the  crowd,  appeared  on  the 
steps  of  the  City  Hall,  and  instantly  the  crowd  ran 
over  to  the  Park,  and  surrounding  the  place  where 
the  Governor  was  standing,  called  on  him  for  a  speech. 
His  remarks  were  judicious  and  well  chosen.  His  first 
duty  was  to  soothe  the  excitements  then  prevailing  in 
the  city ;  and  he  knew  that  this  could  be  done  only  by 
the  use  of  temperate  and  calm  language.  Threats  of 
force  would  only  inflame  the  crowd  still  more ;  and  it 
was  particularly  desirable  to  quiet  them  at  the  cost  of 
as  little  bloodshed  as  possible.  He  said : 

"  My  Friends :  I  have  come  down  here  from  the  quiet 
of  the  country  to  see  what  was  the  difficulty — to  learn 
wh^tt  all  this  trouble  was  concerning  the  Draft.  Let 
me  assure  you  that  I  am  your  friend.  [Uproarious 
cheering.]  You  have  been  my  friends — [cries  of  c  Yes,' 
'  Yes/  c  That's  so  : '  c  We  are,  and  will  be  again1] — and 
now  I  assure  you,  my  fellow  citizens,  that  I  am  here 
to  show  you  a  test  of  my  friendship.  [Cheers.]  I 
wish  to  inform  you  that  I  have  sent  my  Adjutant- Gen 
eral  to  Washington  to  confer  with  the  authorities 
there,  and  to  have  this  Draft  suspended  and  stopped. 
[Vociferous  cheers.]  I  now  ask  you,  as  good  citizens, 
to  wait  for  his  return  ;  and  I  assure  you  that  I  will  do 
all  that  I  can  to  see  that  there  is  no  inequality,  and  no 
wroiig  done  any  one.  I  wish  you  to  take  good  care 


THE    DRAFT    RIOTS.  99 

of  all  property  as  good  citizens,  and  see  that  every 
person  is  safe.  The  safe-keeping  of  property  and  persons 
rests  with  you ;  and  I  charge  you  to  disturb  neither. 
It  is  your  duty  to  maintain  the  good  order  of  the  city, 
and  I  know  you  will  do  it.  I  wish  you  now  to  separate 
as  good  citizens,  and  you  can  assemble  again  whenever 
you  wish  to  do  so.  I  ask  you  to  leave  all  to  me  now, 
and  I  will  see  to  your  rights.  Wait  until  my  Adjutant 
returns  from  "Washington,  and  you  shall  be  satisfied. 
Listen  to  me,  and  see  that  no  harm  is  done  to  either 
persons  or  property,  but  retire  peaceably." 

He  also  read  the  following  letter,  showing  the  ac 
tion  he  had  taken  respecting  the  draft : 

"NEW  YORK,  July  Uih,  1863. 
"  MY  DEAR  SIR  :  I  have  received  your  note  about 
the  draft.  On  Saturday  last,  I  sent  my  Adjutant- 
General  to  Washington  for  the  purpose  of  urging  a 
suspension  of  the  draft,  for  I  know  that  the  city  of 
New  York  can  furnish  its  full  quota  by  volunteering. 
I  have  received  a  dispatch  from  General  Sprague 
that  the  draft  is  suspended.  There  is  no  doubt  the 
conscription  is  postponed.  I  learn  this  from  a  num 
ber  of  sources.  If  I  get  any  information  of  a  change 
of  policy  at  Washington,  I  will  let  you  know. 

"  Truly  yours, 

"  HORATIO  SEYMOUR. 

"Hon.  SAMUEL  SLOAN,  President  of  the  Hudson  River 
Kailroad  Company,  New  York." 

The  Governor  was  listened  to  with  profound  atten 
tion,  and  the  reading  of  the  above  letter  gave  great 


100  LIFE    OF   HORATIO    SEYMOUR. 

satisfaction  to  his  hearers.  His  speech  was  spread 
rapidly  through  the  city,  and  there  can  be  no  doubt 
that  it  aided  very  greatly  in  inducing  the  men  to  aban 
don  the  riot. 

Certain  Republican  politicians,  anxious  to  destroy 
the  influence  and  good  name  of  Mr.  Seymour,  have 
affected  to  see  in  this  speech  a  yielding  to  the  mob, 
and  a  hostility  to  the  Union  cause.  Mr.  Greeley  says: 

"  The  most  objectionable  feature  of  this  brief  ad 
dress  was  not  its  initial  salutation,  but  its  underlying 
assumption  that  order  and  obedience  to  law  were  sus 
pended  on  the  stoppage  of  the  Draft.  True,  he  did 
not  in  terms  say,  '  It  would  be  right  to  riot,  and  burn 
buildings,  and  hunt  negroes,  and  slaughter  officers,  if 
the  Draft  were  to  go  on ;  but  I  will  have  it  stopped 
and  given  up  :  so  go  home  and  keep  the  peace ; '  but, 
to  the  minds  of  the  rioters,  his  speech  amounted  exactly 
to  that.  Hence,  there  was  great  danger  that  tranquil 
lity  thus  attained  would  be  broken  whenever  the  at 
tempt  to  enforce  the  Draft  should  be  renewed.  And 
it  was  already  well  understood— indeed,  it  had  been 
proposed  to  prominent  Republicans  the  day  before — 
that,  if  they  would  promise  that  the  Draft  should  be 
arrested,  the  riots  should  thereupon  be  stopped." 

The  petty  malice  of  this  attack  needs  no  comment, 
yet  we  must  say  it  comes  in  bad  taste  from  one,  the 
salvation  of  whose  property  was  the  immediate  and 
first  consequence  of  the  speech. 

The  Albany  Evening  Journal,  of  July  13th,  1868, 
states  the  views  of  the  Radicals  still  more  strongly. 
It  says : 


THE    DRAFT   RIOTS.  101 

"  Then  came  the  riots.  Seymour  went  down  there. 
Had  it  been  Andrew  Jackson,  instead,  there  would 
have  been  no  palaver  with  the  bloody  criminals.  He 
would  have  dispersed  them,  by  some  other  method, 
than  by  promising  them  all  they  asked.  *  *  * 
Look  at  the  scene.  Rebel  armies  mustering  ;  rebel  con 
scripts  hastening  to  the  field  ;  rebel  energies  gather 
ing.  On  the  other  hand — a  bleeding  Union,  a  pal 
sied  army,  brave  and  daring,  but  reduced.  A  nation 
calls  for  help.  It  decrees  assistance.  A  yelping  crew, 
filled  with  the  spirit  of  rebellion,  thirsty  for  blood, 
fired  with  rage,  resist  their  country's  pleas  and 
demands,  and  assail  the  officers  of  the  nation  and  the 
innocent  poor  of  their  city.  What  does  Horatio  Sey 
mour  do  ?  Does  he  point  them  to  the  obligations 
of  the  citizen,  the  dangers  of  the  nation,  and  their 
imperilled  brethren  of  the  army?  Not  at  all." 

We  cannot  better  refute  this  slander  than  by  quo 
ting  the  remarks  of  this  same  Albany  Evening  Journal, 
printed  in  July,  1863,  just  after  the  occurrence  of  the 
riots.  They  are  as  follows  : 

"  Governor  Seymour,  in  so  promptly  '  declaring 
the  city  in  a  state  of  insurrection,1  contributed  largely 
to  the  suppression  of  the  mob.  It  gave  immediate 
legal  efficiency  to  the  military  arm,  and  enabled  the 
civil  authorities  to  use  that  power  with  terrible  effect. 
It  showed  also,  that  it  was  Governor  Seymour's  pur 
pose  to  give  '  no  quarter '  to  the  ruffians  who  seized 
upon  the  occasion  of  a  popular  excitement  to  rob  and 
murder.  The  exercise  of  the  power  thus  called  into 
service  was  effective.  The  'insurrection7  has  been 


102  LIFE    OF   HORATIO    SEYMOUR. 

quelled.  The  mob  has  been  overpowered.  Law  and 
order  have  triumphed,  and  the  riotously  disposed  every 
where  have  received  a  lesson  which  they  will  not  soon 
forget." 

The  reader  can  form  his  own  opinion  of  these  at 
tacks.  To  our  mind,  as  they  are  the  ablest  that  have 
been  made,  they  afford  the  best  vindication  of  his  con 
duct  that  Mr.  Seymour  or  his  friends  could  desire. 

The  speech,  as  we  have  said,  was  the  most  judicious 
that  could  have  been  delivered.  The  reader  must  re 
member  that  the  Governor  was  not  addressing  a  parcel 
of  rioters.  The  men  to  whom  he  spoke,  had  not  been 
guilty,  as  far  as  could  be  judged,  of  any  unlawful  dem 
onstration.  They  believed  the  draft  unjust  and  an 
outrage  upon  them,  and  they  were,  at  the  time  of  the 
announcement  of  the  Governor's  presence,  merely  dis 
cussing  what  they  believed  to  be  their  grievan 
ces,  and  their  most  lawless  act  had  consisted  of  hissing 
and  yelling  at  the  Tribune  office.  This  may  have  been 
a  crime  in  the  eyes  of  the  frightened  inmates  of  that 
building,  but  it  was  not  so  in  the  eyes  of  the  law.  The 
Governor  had  no  reason  to  think  them  rioters,  for  there 
was  no  charge  that  they  had  been  guilty  of  any  out 
rages  up  to  that  time,  whatever  they  might  have  done, 
but  for  his  presence  and  words,  and  he  had  no  right  to 
address  them  otherwise  than  as  citizens  who  believed 
themselves  wronged.  It  was  his  duty  to  promise  to 
investigate  their  grievances,  and  assure  them  that  he 
would  protect  their  rights,  and  the  best  proof  of  the 
wisdom  of  his  remarks  is  their  effect  upon  the  crowd. 

Nor  was  he  the  only  person  who  believed  concilia- 


THE   DRAFT   KIOTS.  103 

tion  the  best  policy.    On  the  16th,  the  following  notice 
was  placarded  about  the  city  : 

"  NEW  YORK,  July  IQth,  1863. 

"  To  the  men  of  New  York,  ivho  are  now  called  in 
many  of  tlie  papers  rioters  : 

"  Men !  I  am  not  able,  owing  to  the  rheumatism 
in  my  limbs,  to  visit  you ;  but  that  is  not  a  reason 
why  you  should  not  pay  me  a  visit  in  your  whole 
strength.  Come,  then,  to-morrow  (Friday)  at  two 
o'clock,  to  my  residence,  northwest  corner  of  Madison 
Avenue  and  Thirty -Sixth  street.  I  shall  have  a  speech 
prepared  for  you. 

"  There  is  abundant  space  for  the  meeting  around 
my  house.  I  can  address  you  from  the  corner  of  the 
balcony.  If  I  should  be  unable  to  stand  during  its 
delivery,  you  will  permit  me  to  address  you  sitting ; 
my  voice  is  much  stronger  than  my  limbs.  I  take 
upon  myself  the  responsibility  of  assuring  you  that, 
in  paying  me  this  visit,  or  in  retiring  from  it,  you  shall 
riot  be  disturbed  by  any  exhibition  of  municipal  or 
military  presence.  You  who  are  Catholics,  or  as  many 
of  you  as  are,  have  a  right  to  visit  your  bishop  with 
out  molestation.  ^  -f-  JOHN  HUGHES, 

"  Archbishop  of  New  York." 

When,  the  next  day,  nearly  five  thousand  persons 
surrounded  the  residence  of  the  Archbishop,  he  ap 
peared  on  the  balcony,  clad  in  the  vestments  of  his 
high  office,  accompanied  by  many  of  the  priests  and 
leading  Catholic  citizens  of  New  York.  He  began 
his  remarks  by  saying,  "  They  call  you  rioters"  and 


104  LIFE    OF   HORATIO   SEYMOUR. 

proceeded  to  tell  them  he  was  their  father.     Referring 
to  the  riots,  he  said : 

"  In  the  case  of  a  violent  and  unjust  assault  upon 
you  without  provocation,  my  notion  is,  that  every  man 
has  a  right  to  defend  his  house  or  his  shanty  at  the 
risk  of  his  life.  The  cause,  however,  must  be  just. 
It  must  be  defensive,  not  offensive.  Do  you  want  my 
advice u?  I  have  been  hurt  by  the  report  that  you  are 
rioters.  You  cannot  imagine  that  I  could  hear  those 
things  without  being  pained  grievously.  Is  there  not 
some  way  by  which  you  can  stop  these  proceedings, 
and  support  the  laws,  of.  which  none  have  been  enacted 
against  you  as  Irishmen  and  Catholics  ?  You  have 
suffered  enough  already.  No  Government  can  stand 
or  protect  itself  unless  it  protects  its  citizens.  Milita 
ry  force  will  be  let  loose  on  you,  and  you  know  what 
that  is.  The  innocent  will  be  shot  down,  and  the 
guilty  are  likely  to  escape.  Would  it  not  be  better 
for  you  to  retire  quietly ;  not  to  give  up  your  princi 
ples  or  convictions,  but  to  keep  out  of  the  crowd  where 
immortal  souls  are  launched  into  eternity,  and,  at  all 
events,  get  into  no  trouble  till  you  are  at  home? 
Would  it  not  be  better  ?  There  is  one  thing  in  which 
I  would  ask  your  advice ;  when  these  so-called  riots  are 
over,  and  the  blame  is  justly  laid  on  Irish  Catholics,  I 
wish  you  to  tell  me  in  what  country  I  could  claim  to 
be  born  ?  (Voices,  c  Ireland.1)  Yes,  but  what  shall  I 
say  if  these  stories  be  true  ?  Ireland,  that  never  com 
mitted  a  single  act  of  cruelty  until  she  was  oppressed 
— Ireland,  that  has  been  the  mother  of  heroes  and 
poets,  but  never  the  mother  of  cowards.  I  took  upon 


THE   DRAFT   RIOTS.  105 

myself  to  say  that  you  should  not  be  molested  in  pay 
ing  me  a  visit.  I  thank  you  for  your  kindness,  and  I 
hope  nothing  will  occur  till  you  return  home,  and  if, 
by  chance,  as  you  go  thither,  you  should  meet  a  police 
officer  or  military  man,  why  just — look  at  him." 

The  effect  of  this  speech  was  most  happy.  The 
five  thousand  men  who  had  been  drawn  out  of  the 
way  of  mischief  by  the  call  of  the  Archbishop,  dis 
persed  peaceably  to  their  homes. 

Now,  in  what  respect  was  the  speech  of  the  Gov 
ernor  more  reprehensible  than  that  of  the  Archbishop  ? 
Both  were  dictated  by  a  profound  wisdom,  and  the 
effect  of  each  was  the  same.  Both  speakers  knew  that 
whether  the  grievances  of  the  crowd  were  real  or  fancied, 
the  only  way  to  bring  them  back  to  the  cause  of  order 
was  to  soothe  them  with  kind  words.  The  venerable 
Archbishop  was  too  profound  a  student  of  human  na 
ture  not  to  appreciate  this.  Further  than  this,  his 
course  was  prompted  by  a  direct  request  from  Gov 
ernor  Seymour  that  he  would  use  his  influence  to  stop 
the  disorders.  No  man  will  dare  to  charge  him  with 
cowardice,  either  physical  or  moral,  for  no  truer  spe 
cimen  of  pure  manhood  ever  lived.  No  man  will  dare 
to  charge  him  with  disloyalty  to  the  Union,  for  his 
whole  life,  and  more  especially  his  services  in  behalf 
of  recruiting  for  the  Federal  armies,  would  give  the 
lie  to  such  a  charge ;  arid  if  his  remarks  were  unob 
jectionable  there  is  no  good  reason  why  those  of  the 
Governor  should  be  denounced. 

During  the  15th  several  of  the  militia  regiments 
returned  from  Pennsylvania,  and  these  were  followed 


106  LIFE    OF   HORATIO    SEYMOUR. 

the  next  day  by  others,  and  by  regiments  of  veterans 
from  Meade's  Army.  The  ringleaders  of  the  mob 
were  arrested  and  imprisoned,  and  their  followers  dis 
heartened  and  demoralized.  The  troops  as  soon  as 
they  arrived,  were  stationed  throughout  the  city,  and 
their  vigilance  and  promptness,  together  with  a  general 
diffusion  of  the  knowledge  that  the  draft  was  suspend 
ed  for  the  time,  soon  put  a  stop  to  the  disorder.  By 
the  night  of  the  16th  all  organized  resistance  had 
ceased,  but  the  city  was  patrolled  by  the  troops  for 
several  days  afterwards.  The  stages  and  cars,  which 
had  been  withdrawn  during  the  riot,  were  replaced  on 
their  routes  on  the  15th,  on  which  day  the  Mayor  of 
the  City  issued  the  following  proclamation  : 

"  MAYOR'S  OFFICE,  NEW  •  YORK, 

July  15^,  1863. 
"  To  the  Citizens  of  Neiv  York  : 

"  I  am  happy  to  announce  to  you  that  the  riot 
which  has  for  two  days  disgraced  our  city,  has  been  in 
good  measure  subjected  to  the  control  of  the  public 
authorities.  It  would  not  have  interrupted  your  peace 
for  a  day  but  for  the  temporary  absence  of  all  our  or 
ganized  local  militia.  What  now  remains  of  the  mob 
are  fragments  prowling  about  for  plunder ;  and  for 
the  purpose  of  meeting  these,  and  saving  the  military 
and  police  from  the  exhaustion  of  continued  move 
ments,  you  are  invited  to  form  voluntary  associations 
under  competent  leaders,  to  patrol  and  guard  your  va 
rious  districts.  With  these  exceptions  you  are  again 
requested  to  resume  your  accustomed  daily  avocations. 


THE   DRAFT   RIOTS.  107 

This  is  as  necessary  to  your  personal  security  as  to  the 
peace  of  the  city. 

"  The  various  lines  of  omnibuses,  railways  and  tele 
grams  must  be  put  in  full  operation  immediately.  Ad 
equate  military  protection  against  their  further  inter 
ruption  will  be  furnished  on  application  to  the  military 
authorities  of  the  State. 

"  Fellow  citizens,  the  laws  must  and  shall  be 
obeyed ;  public  order'shall  not  be  broken  with  impunity. 
Our  first  duty  now  is  to  restore  the  public  peace  and 
preserve  it  unbroken,  and  to  pursue  and  punish  the 
offenders  against  the  majesty  of  the  laws. 

u  GEORGE  OPDYKE,  Mayor." 

Order  was  now  restored.  The  city  authorities  ap 
propriated  a  large  sum  to  pay  bounties  to  volunteers, 
who  were  immediately  forthcoming,  and  the  city's  quota 
was  soon  filled  without  a  renewal  of  the  draft. 

u  The  number  of  persons  killed  during  these  terri 
ble  riots  is  not  known.  The  mortality  statistics  for 
the  week,  at  the  city  inspector's  office,  show  an  increase 
of  450  over  the  average  weekly  mortality  of  the  year. 
About  90  deaths  from  gunshot  wounds  were  reported 
at  his  office.  It  was  said — but  this  is,  doubtless,  incor 
rect — that  the  remains  of  many  of  the  rioters  were  se 
cretly  taken  into  the  country  and  buried  there.  A 
large  number  of  wounded  persons  probably  died 
during  the  following  week.  Governor  Seymour  in  his 
annual  message  states  that  the  4  number  of  killed  and 
wounded  is  estimated  by  the  police  to  be  at  least  one 
thousand/  The  police  and  the  regular  and  local  mili- 


108  LIFE    OF   HOKATIO    SEYMOUR. 

tary  forces  suffered  but  little  in  comparison  with  the 
mob.  With  regard  to  the  militia  of  the  1st  Division, 
General  Sandford  gives  the  exact  figures  of  their 
losses  in  a  portion  of  the  riots.  He  says  that  i  one 
private  soldier  was  killed,  and  twenty-two  men  dan 
gerously,  and  fifty  officers  and  soldiers  slightly,  wound 
ed,  at  the  defeat  of  the  mob  in  42d  Street,  the  storm 
ing  of  the  barricade  erected  by  the  rioters  in  29th 
Street,  and  in  the  other  conflicts  which  followed.' 

"  The  losses,  by  the  destruction  of  buildings  and 
other  property,  were  originally  estimated  at  $400,000. 
A  committee  was  appointed  by  the  county  supervisors, 
to  audit  claims  for  damages,  for  all  of  which  the  county 
was  responsible,  under  the  law,  and  for  the  payment 
of  which  a  large  appropriation  was  made.  The  aggre 
gate  of  the  claims  far  surpassed  the  highest  expecta 
tions,  amounting  to  over  $2,500,000.  The  committee 
disallowed  many,  and  cut  down  most  of  the  remainder 
50  per  cent.  At  last  accounts  over  $1,000,000  had 
been  paid  to  claimants,  and  it  was  supposed  that  $500,- 
000  more  would  be  needed  for  the  same  purpose."  * 

The  course  of  Governor  Seymour  in  these  riots  met 
the  approval  of  all  candid  and  unprejudiced  men  in  the 
State.  The  better  class  of  Republicans  were  warm  in 
his  praise,  as  will  be  seen  by  the  extract  from  the  Al 
bany  Evening  Journal,  (of  July,  1863,)  the  leading 
Republican  journal  of  the  State,  already  given ;  and  it 
was  not  until  the  heat  of  party  passion  had  blinded 
them  to  the  dictates  of  truth  and  honesty,  that  any  of 
that  party  commenced,  for  party  purposes,  the  sys- 
*  The  Annual  Cyclopaedia,  1863,  p.  816. 


THE    DRAFT   RIOTS.  109 

tematic  course  of  slander  they  have  of  late  pur 
sued. 

The  charge  recently  brought  by  a  distinguished 
Republican  speaker,  (Lt.  Gov.  Woodford),  that  the 
riots  were  the  result  of  Governor  Seymour's  views  and 
teachings,  is  distinctly  refuted  by  the  testimony  of 
Mayor  Opdyke,  a  Republican  himself,  in  the  proclama 
tion  given  above,  that  they  were  caused  by  the  city  being 
left  defenceless  in  consequence  of  "  the  temporary  ab 
sence  of  all  our  organized  local  militia."  Further  than 
this,  a  Republican  Legislature,  by  an  almost  unani 
mous  vote,  thanked  Governor  Seymour  for  his  conduct 
during  the  Gettysburg  excitement  and  the  riots.  Says 
the  Veteran  historian  of  "  Democracy  in  the  United 
States": 

u  When  the  Avar  commenced,  the  system  of  slander 
became  enlarged  and  intensified,  and  reached  not  only 
leading  Democratic  politicians,  but  the  whole  party  as 
a  body  and  all  its  members  in  detail.  The  Republicans 
erected  a  standard  of  comparison,  composed  exclusively 
of  themselves,  and  required  all  mankind  to  conform  to 
it,  or  be  consigned  to  the  ranks  of  c  traitors,1  c  rebels,' 
and  '  disloyalists,1  '  having  no  rights  that  Republicans 
were  bound  to  respect.'  For  the  first  time  a  political 
Administration  was  treated  as  the  Government  and  the 
people  were  ignored ;  every  one  who  did  not  approve 
of  the  acts  of  the  Administration  was  denounced  as  dis 
loyal  and  an  enemy  to  the  Union.  Entering  the  army, 
fighting  and  losing  limbs,  or  even  life,  could  not  re 
move  the  stain  of  disloyalty  for  questioning  the  wisdom, 
honesty,  and  prudence  of  the  President,  his  advisers, 


110  LIFE    OP   HORATIO    SEYMOUR. 

and  Congress.  The  Republicans  assumed  to  sit  in 
judgment  upon  every  man  they  knew  or  heard  of,  and 
fixed  his  -status  before  the  world.  He  must  not  only 
agree  with  the  Administration  and  Congress,  but  he 
must  conform  to  the  changes  which  almost  daily  oc 
curred  in  their  standard  of  faith  and  action.  Even  the 
insignificancy  of  a  man  did  not  ensure  him  against  a 
military  prison.  Spies  were  dodging  the  heels  of  every 
man.  Sufficient  'black-mail'  made  the  contributor 
loyal,  and  the  want  of  it  usually  sent  him  to  prison,  as 
disloyal,  a  rebel,  or  a  traitor. 

"  No  fidelity  or  vigilance  could  supply  the  place  of 
the  subserviency  demanded.  It  was  assumed  that  no 
Democrat  performed  his  duty  to  the  country,  or  gave 
efficient  aid  in  the  war,  and  that  whatever  was  actually 
done,  was  by  Republicans.  If  a  riot  occurred,  it  was 
charged  as  the  work  of  the  Democrats,  and  that  Dem- 
.ocratic  officials  did  not  perform  their  duty  in  suppressing 
it.  It  was  charged  against  Governor  Seymour  that 
he  had  been  dilatory  in  sending  New  York  troops  to 
the  field.  But  the  records  of  the  times  shoiv  that  he 
sent  troops  to  Washington  before  any  Republicah  State. 
His  men  were  the  first  there.  He  complied  with  every 
requisition  upon  New  York  for  men  more  promptly 
than  any  Republican  State  in  the  Union.  He  was  never 
behind  an  hour.  It  was  a  deep  mortification  to  the 
War  Department  that  he  feretted  out  its  wrong  deci 
sions,  and  especially  in  making  distribution  under  dif 
ferent  calls,  and  requiring  at  his  hands  suitable  cor 
rections.  When  the  riots  occurred  in  New  York,  it 
was  charged  that,  instead  of  performing  his  duty  in 


THE    DRAFT   RIOTS.  Ill 

suppressing  it,  he  secretly  encouraged  it.  This  impu 
tation,  though  denied,  and  even  disproved,  was  reitera 
ted  until  after  the  election  in  1864. 

"  Now,  when  all  motive  for  further  perseverance  in 
this  slander  has  ceased,  it  is  nearly  universally  conceded 
that  he  not  only  performed  his  whole  duty,  but  did  so 
with  untiring  zeal,  and  unwavering  perseverance,  and 
with  the  most  perfect  success.  In  the  Convention  at 
Albany,  Mr.  Opdyke,  who  was  then  Mayor  of  the  City 
of  New  York,*  publicly  refuted  the  accusations  that 
had  been  falsely  made  against  Governor  Seymour,  show- 

*  Mayor  Opdyke  in  an  official  letter,  dated  June  13th,  1867,  makes 
the  following  statement  concerning  Gov.  Seymour : 

*  *  As  Governor  of  the  State  and  Commander-in-Chief  of  its 
military  forces,  he  superseded  me  in  authority  over  the  State  militia  com 
manded  by  General  Sanford;  but  General  Wool,  commanding  the  United 
States  military  forces,  continued  to  regard  himself  as  under  my  imme 
diate  directions,  subject,  of  course,  to  the  approval  of  his  own  military 
judgment  and  to  the  commands  of  his  superiors  at  Washington.  It  affords 
me  pleasure  to  add,  however,  that  among  all  those  in  authority  no  diver 
sity  of  sentiment  manifested  itself.  All  co-operated  in  earnest  efforts  to 
restore  the  wonted  peace  and  quiet  of  the  city  by  the  earliest  possible 
suppression  of  the  outbreak. 

From  a  letter  at  the  close  of  the  riot,  we  quote  the  following: 
Party  interests  and  prejudices  were  ignored  by  them ;  their  action 
was  united  and  harmonious ;  the  riot  was  speedily  suppressed  ;  and,  con 
sidering  the  magnitude  of  the  danger  and  the  slenderness  of  our  means 
of  resistance,  with  extraordinary  exemption  from  loss  of  life  and  prop 
erty.  In  all  my  efforts  I  was  ably  and  steadfastly  seconded  by  those 
heads  of  the  City  Department  who  may  be  regarded  as  the  representatives 
of  the'  Democratic  party,  Street  Commissioner  Cornell,  Comptroller 
Brennan,  City  Inspector  Boole,  Supervisors  Tweed,  Blunt  and  Purdy, 
and  William  H.  Armstrong,  Esq.,  of  the  Mayor's  office,  were  faithful  and 
courageous  advisers.  *  *  *  * 

GEORGE  OPDYKE. 


112  LIFE    OF   HOEATIO    SEYMOUR. 

Hl^ 

ing  -them  to  be  of  the  highest  and  most  worthy  char 
acter."  * 

*  Democracy  in  the  United  States.    By  Ransom  H.  Gillett.  pp.  367, 
368. 


CHAPTEE  VI. 

The  Draft  suspended  in  New  York  City — Injustice  of  the  Government  to 
New  York — Governor  Seymour  calls  the  Attention  of  the  President 
to  the  Inequality  in  the  Apportionment  of  Conscripts — He  asks  that 
the  Draft  be  suspended  temporarily  in  the  State — Justice  of  his 
Demand — Reply  of  the  President — A  weak  Argument — Refuses  to 
suspend  the  Draft — Correspondence  between  the  Governor  and  the 
President — Preparations  for  resuming  the  Draft  in  New  York  City 
and  Brooklyn — Letter  of  General  Dix  to  the  Governor — Correspond 
ence  between  Governor  Seymour  and  General  Dix — Bold  and  in 
dependent  Course  of  the  Governor — He  maintains  the  Independence 
of  his  State,  and  fastens  the  Odium  and  Responsibility  of  the  Draft 
upon  the  Administration — Proclamation  by  the  Governor— Governor 
Seymour's  Course  dictated  by  an  exalted  Patriotism — Review  of  his 
Acts — His  Course  sustained  by  the  Commission  appointed  by  the 
War  Department — He  receives  the  Thanks  of  the  Legislature — 
Letter  relating  to  the  Enlistment  of  Colored  Troops. 

THE  draft,  as  we  have  said,  was  suspended  in  New 
York  city  upon  the  filling  of  the  city's  quota  by 
volunteers.  Nevertheless,  it  was  the  purpose  of  the 
Government  to  enforce  it  in  the  remainder  of  the  State. 
General  Wool  was  relieved  of  the  command  of  the 
Department,  and  succeeded  by  General  Dix,  who,  for 
the  purpose  of  overcoming  any  resistance  to  the  con 
scription,  was  furnished  by  the  Secretary  of  War  with 
a  force  of  about  twenty  thousand  men. 

The  number  of  men  ordered  to  be  raised  by  con 
scription  was  one  fifth  of  the  number  enrolled  in  each 
Congressional  District,  who  belonged  to  the  first  class, 
or  were  between  the  ages  of  twenty-five  and  thirty-five, 

8 


114  LIFE    OF   HORATIO    SEYMOUR. 

with  the  unmarried  between  thirty-five  and  forty-five. 
It  was  understood,  at  the  first,  that  the  burden  should 
be  equally  distributed  between  the  States  according  to 
their  respective  populations  subject  to  military  duty, 
yet  when  the  quotas  of  the  various  States  were  made 
out,  it  was  found  that  New  York,  which  had  already 
furnished  the  largest  number  of  volunteers,  was  called 
upon  to  an  extent  entirely  out  of  proportion  to  the 
demand  made  upon  the  other  States,  and  it  was  also 
seen  that  the  quota  of  the  State  was  very  unequally 
divided  between  its  various  Congressional  districts. 

Governor  Seymour's  attention  was  promptly  called 
to  this  inequality,  and  he  at  once  exerted  himself  to 
see  that  the  people  of  the  State  were  treated  with 
justice  and  fairness  in  the  matter.  On  the  3d  of  Au 
gust,  he  addressed  a  letter  to  President  Lincoln,  in 
which  he  pointed  out  the  inequalities  to  which  we 
have  referred,  and  urged  a  suspension  of  the  draft  un 
til  the  result  of  the  recruiting  in  the  various  portions 
of  the  State  could  be  ascertained,  and  protested  against 
the  excessive  quota  required  of  the  urban  districts  of 
the  State.  He  said : 

"It  is  just  to  add  that  the  Administration  owes 
this  to  itself,  as  these  inequalities  fall  most  heavily  on 
those  districts  which  have  been  opposed  to  its  political 


views." 


He  called  the  attention  of  the  President  to  that 
part  of  the  conscription  law  which  requires  that  the 
quotas  should  be  so  assigned  as  to  equalize  the  number 
among  the  districts  of  the  several  States,  allowing  for 
those  already  furnished,  and  for  the  time  of  service. 


CONSCRIPTION   ACT    UNCONSTITUTIONAL.  115 

He  claimed  that,  as  New  York  had  already  furnished 
a  surplus,  she  was  entitled  to  credit  for  them.  The 
statement  of  the  Provost-Marshal  as  to  the  number  of 
troops  already  furnished  by  the  State,  did  not  agree 
with  the  records  in  the  Adjutant- General's  office  at 
Albany,  and  the  Governor  asked  that  the  two  records 
might  be  compared.*  He  asked  the  President  to  sus 
pend  the  draft  until  the  constitutionality  of  the  law 
could  be  determined  by  the  courts.  The  cause  of  the 
Union  would  not  suffer  by  this,  as  recruiting  was  go 
ing  on  actively  throughout  the  Union.  Said  he : 

u  It  is  believed  by  at  least  one-half  of  the  people 
of  the  loyal  States  that  the  Conscription  Act,  which 
they  are  called  upon  to  obey  because  it  is  on  the  stat 
ute-book,  is  in  itself  a  violation  of  the  supreme  consti 
tutional  law.  There  is  a  fear  and  suspicion  that,  while 
they  are  threatened  with  the  severest  penalties  of  the 
law,  they  are  to  be  deprived  of  its  protection.  *  *  * 
I  do  not  dwell  upon  what  I  believe  would  be  the  con 
sequence  of  a  violent,  harsh  policy  before  the  constitu 
tionality  of  the  Act  is  tested.  You  can  scan  the 
immediate  future  as  well  as  I.  The  temper  of  the 
people  to-day  you  can  readily  learn." 

He  "earnestly  urged  the  Government  to  interpose 
no  obstructions  to  the  earliest  practical  decision  upon 
this  point."  He  added : 

u  Our  accustomed  procedures  give  to  our  citizens 
the  right  to  bring  all  questions  affecting  personal  lib- 

*  When  it  is  remembered  how  often  and  how  plausibly  records  of  all 
kinds  were  suppressed  and  altered  by  the  officials  of  the  TVar  Department, 
some  idea  may  be  formed  of  the  cause  of  this  difference. 


116  LIFE    OF   HORATIO   SEYMOUR. 

erty  or  compulsory  service  in  a  direct  and  summary 
manner,  to  the  judges  and  courts  of  the  State  or  na 
tion.  The  decisions  which  would  thus  naturally  be 
rendered  within  a  brief  period,  and  after  full  and  ample 
discussion,  would  make  such  a  current  of  judicial  opin 
ion  as  would  satisfy  the  public  mind  that  the  act  is 
either  valid  or  void." 

On  the  7th  of  August,  the  President  replied  as 
follows : 

"  EXECUTIVE  MANSION,  WASHINGTON,  ) 
"August  7th,  1863.      j 
"His  Excellency  Horatio  Seymour,  Gov.  of  New  York: 

"  Your  communication  of  the  3d  instant  has  been 
received  and  attentively  considered. 

"I  cannot  consent  to  suspend  the  draft  in  New 
York,  as  you  request,  because,  among  other  things, 
time  is  too  important. 

"By  the  figures  you  send,  which  I  presume  are 
correct,  the  twelve  districts  represented  fall  into  two 
classes,  of  eight  and  four  respectively.  The  disparity  of 
the  quotas  for  the  draft,  in  these  two  classes,  is  certainly 
very  striking,  being  the  difference  between  an  average 
2,200  in  one  class,  and  4,864  in  the  other.  Assuming 
that  the  districts  are  equal  one  to  another,  in  entire 
population,  as  required  by  the  plan  on  which  they 
were  made,  this  disparity  is  such  as  to  require  atten 
tion. 

"  Much  of  it,  however,  I  suppose,  will  be  accounted 
for  by  the  fact  that  so  many  more  persons  fit  for  sol 
diers  are  in  the  city  than  in  the  country,  who  have  too 
recently  arrived  from  other  parts  of  the  United  States, 


PRESIDENT   REFUSES    TO    SUSPEND    THE    DRAFT.        117 

arid  from  Europe,  to  be  included  in  the  census  of  1860, 
or  to  have  voted  in  1862.  Still,  making  due  allowance 
for  this,  I  am  yet  unwilling  to  stand  upon  it,  as  an  en 
tirely  sufficient  explanation  for  the  great  disparity. 

UI  shall  direct  the  draft  to  proceed  in  all  the  dis 
tricts,  drawing,  however,  at  first,  from  each'  of  the  four 
districts,  to  wit :  second,  fourth,  sixth,  and  eighth,  only 
2,200,  being  the  average  quota  of  the  other  class. 

"  After  this  drawing,  these  four  districts,  and  also 
the  seventeenth  and  twenty-ninth,  shall  be  carefully  re- 
enrolled,  and,  if  you  please,  agents  of  yours  may  wit 
ness  every  step  of  the  process.  Any  deficiency  which 
may  appear  by  the  new  enrolment,  will  be  supplied  by 
a  special  draft  for  that  object,  allowing  due  credit  for 
volunteers  who  may  be  obtained  from  these  districts, 
respectively,  during  the  interval.  And  at  all  points, 
so  far  as  consistent  with  practical  convenience,  due 
credit  will  be  given  for  volunteers,  and  your  excellency 
shall  be  notified  of  the  time  fixed  for  commencing  the 
draft  in  each  district. 

u  I  do  not  object  to  abide  a  decision  of  the  United 
States  Supreme  Court,  or  of  the  judges  thereof,  on  the 
constitutionality  of  the  draft  law.  In  fact,  I  shall  be 
willing  to  facilitate  the  obtaining  of  it,  but  I  cannot 
consent  to  lose  the  time  while  it  is  being  obtained. 
We  are  contending  with  an  enemy  who,  as  I  under 
stand,  drives  every  able-bodied  man  he  can  reach  into 
his  ranks,  very  much  as  a  butcher  drives  bullocks  into 
a  slaughter-pen.  No  time  is  wasted,  no  argument  is 
used. 

"  This  produces  an  army  which  will  soon  turn  upon 


118  LIFE    OP   HORATIO    SEYMOUR. 

our  now  victorious  soldiers,  already  in  the  field,  if  they 
shall  not  be  sustained  by  recruits  as  they  should  be. 
It  produces  an  army  with  a  rapidity  not  to  be  matched 
on  our  side,  if  we  first  waste  time  to  reexperiment 
with  the  volunteer  system,  already  deemed  by  Con 
gress,  and  palpably,  in  fact,  so  far  exhausted  as  to  be 
inadequate ;  and  then  more  time  to  obtain  a  court  de 
cision  as  to  whether  a  law  is  constitutional  which  re- 
• 

quires  a  part  of  those  not  now  in  the  service  to  go  to 
the  aid  of  those  who  are  already  in  it ;  and  still  more 
time  to  determine  with  absolute  certainty  that  we  get 
those  who  are  to  go  in  the  precisely  legal  proportion 
to  those  who  are  not  to  go. 

"  My  purpose  is  to  be  in  my  action  just  and  consti 
tutional,  and  yet  practical,  in  performing  the  important 
duty  with  which  I  am  charged,  of  maintaining  the 
unity  and  the  free  principles  of  our  common  country. 
"Your  obedient  servant,  A.  LINCOLN." 

On  the  8th,  the  Governor  wrote  to  the  President 
expressing  his  regret  that  the  draft  could  not  be  sus 
pended  until  a  judicial  decision  could  be  had.  In  this 
letter  he  forwarded  a  report  of  the  Judge- Advocate 
General,  in  support  of  his  assertions  that  the  draft  was 
not  properly  proportioned  among  the  various  districts 
of  the  State.  He  added : 

UI  wish  to  call  your  attention  to  the  tables  on 
pages  5,  6,  7,  and  8,  which  show  that  in  the  nine  Con 
gressional  districts  in  Manhattan,  Long,  and  Staten 
Islands,  the  number  of  conscripts  called  for  is  33,729, 
while  in  nineteen  other  districts  the  number  of  con- 


CORRESPONDENCE    WITH    THE    PRESIDENCE.  119 

scripts  called  for  is  only  39,626.  This  draft  is  to  be 
made  from  the  first  class ;  those  between  the  ages  of 
twenty  and  thirty-five.  It  appears  by  the  census  of 
1860,  that  in  the  first  nine  Congressional  districts  there 
were  164,797  males  between  twenty  and  thirty-five. 
They  are  called  upon  for  33,729  conscripts.  In  the 
other  nineteen  districts,  with  a  population  of  males  be 
tween  twenty  and  thirty-five  of  270,786,  only  39,626 
are  demanded. 

"Again,  to  show  the  partisan  character  of  the  en 
rolment,  you  will  find  in  the  21st  page  of  the  Military 
report,  that  in  the  first  nine  Congressional  districts, 
the  total  vote  of  1860  was  151,243.  The  number  of 
conscripts  now  demanded  is  33,729.  In  the  nineteen 
districts,  the  total  vote  was  457,257  ;  yet  these  districts 
are  called  upon  to  furnish  only  39,626  drafted  men. 
Each  of  the  nine  districts  gave  majorities  in  favor  of 
one  political  party,  and  each  of  the  nineteen  districts 
gave  majorities  in  favor  of  the  other  party." 

On  the  llth,  the  President  briefly  replied  as  fol 
lows  : 

u  EXECUTIVE  MANSION, WASHINGTON,  ] 
"August  llth,  1862.      j 
"His  Excellency  Horatio  Seymour,  Gov.  of  Neiv  York  : 

"Yours  of  the  8th  inst.,  with  Judge  Advocate-Gen. 
Waterbury's  report,  was  received  to-day.  Asking  you 
to  remember  that  I  consider  the  time  as  being  very 
important,  both  to  the  general  cause  of  the  country 
and  to  the  soldiers  in  the  field,  I  beg  to  remind  you  that 
I  waited  at  your  request  from  the  1st  until  the  6th  inst, 
to  receive  your  communication  dated  the  3d.  In  view 


120  LIFE    OF    HORATIO    SEYMOUR. 

of  its  great  length  and  the  known  time  and  apparent 
care  taken  in  its  preparation,  I  did  not  doubt  that  it 
contained  your  full  case  as  you  desired  to  present  it. 
It  contained  the  figures  for  twelve  districts,  omitting 
the  other  nineteen,  as  I  supposed,  because  you  found 
nothing  to  complain  of  as  to  them.  I  answered  accord 
ingly.  In  doing  so,  I  laid  down  the  principle  to  which 
I  propose  adhering,  which  is  to  proceed  with  the  draft, 
at  the  same  time  employing  infallible  means  to  avoid 
any  great  wrong. 

"  With  the  communication  received  to-day,  you 
send  figures  for  twenty-eight  districts,  including  the 
same  sent  before,  and  still  omitting  three,  for  which  I 
suppose  the  enrolments  are  not  yet  received.  In  look 
ing  over  the  fuller  lists  of  twenty-eight  districts,  I  find 
that  the  quotas  for  sixteen  of  them  are  above  2,000  and 
below  2,700  ;  while  of  the  rest  six  are  above  2,700,  and 
six  are  below  2,000. 

"  Applying  the  principle  to  these  new  facts,  the  5th 
and  7th  districts  must  be  added  to  the  four  in  which 
the  quotas  have  already  been  reduced  to  2,200  for  the 
first  draft,  and  with  these  four  others  must  be  added 
to  those  to  be  reenrolled.  The  correct  case  will  then 
stand :  the  quotas  of  the  2d,  4th,  5th,  6th,  7th,  and  8th 
districts,  fixed  at  2,200  for  the  first  draft. 

"  The  provost-marshal-general  informs  me  that  the 
drawing  is  already  completed  in  the  16th,  17th,  18th, 
22d,  24th,  26th,  27th,  28th,  29th,  and  30th  districts.  In 
the  others,  except  the  three  outstanding,  the  drawing 
will  be  made  upon  the  quotas  as  now  fixed.  After  the 
first  draft,  the  2d,  4th,  5th,  6th,  7th,  8th,  16th,  17th, 


STATEMENT    OF   DISPROPORTION.  121 

21st,  25th,  29th,  and  31st,  will  be  reenrolled,  for  the 
purpose  and  in  the  manner  stated  in  my  letter  of  the 
7th  inst.  The  same  principle  will  be  applied  to  the 
now  outstanding  districts  when  they  shall  come  in.  No 
part  of  my  former  letter  is  repudiated  by  reason  of  not 
being  restated  in  this,  or  for  any  other  cause. 

"  Your  obedient  servant,  A.  LINCOLN." 

The  Governor,  in  insisting  upon  the  injustice  of  the 
proportion  of  conscripts  demanded  of  New  York,  sent 
the  following  statement  to  the  War  Department : 

"  The  average  ratio  of  enrolment  to  the  male 

population  in  the  Western  States,  is  .     .19  per  ct. 

In  New  Jersey 20     " 

In  Pennsylvania 18}  " 

In  the  New  England  States,  it  is  .     .     .     .17     " 
In  the  State  of  New  York,  it  is     .     .    <"£   .  22     " 
Massachusetts,  with  ten  Congressmen  and  a 
population  of  1,231,066,  has  to  furnish, 
under  the  recent  call  for  300,000  men  .     15,126 
The  first  nine  Congressional  districts  of  the 
State  of  New  York,  with  a  population 
of  1,218,949,  are  called  upon  for  .     .     .     25,166 
Excess  in  the  nine  Congressional  districts  in 
New  York  over  ten  Congressional  dis 
tricts  in  Massachusetts    .     .     .    x,  >.,,..  .     10,040 
The  quota  of  Vermont  and  New  Hampshire, 
with  a  united  population  of  641,171,  and 
six  representatives  in  Congress,  and  four 
senators,  is 7,099 


122  LIFE    OF   HORATIO    SEYMOUR. 

The  quota  of  two  Congressional  districts  in 
New  York,  the  4th  and  6th,  with  a  pop 
ulation  of  283,229,  is  7,628." 

Meanwhile,  as  it  was  probable  that  the  draft,  which 
had  been  suspended  in  New  York  and  Brooklyn,  might 
have  to  be  resumed  in  those  cities,  General  Dix,  then 
in  command  of  the  Federal  troops  in  the  Department 
of  the  East,  sent  the  following  communication  to  Gov 
ernor  Seymour: 

"  HEADQUARTERS,  DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  EAST,  1 
"  NEW  YORK  CITY,  July  30^,  1863.  j 
"  SIR  :  As  the  draft  under  the  Act  of  Congress  of 
March  3d,  1863,  for  enrolling  and  calling  out  the 
national  forces,  will  probably  be  resumed  in  this  city 
at  an  early  day,  I  am  desirous  of  knowing  whether  the 
military  power  of  the  State  may  be  relied  on  to  enforce 
the  execution  of  the  law,  in  case  of  forcible  resistance 
to  it.  I  am  very  anxious  that  there  should  be  perfect 
harmony  of  action  between  the  Federal  Government 
and  that  of  the  State  of  New  York ;  and  if  under  your 
authority  to  see  the  laws  faithfully  executed,  I  can  feel 
assured  that  the  Act  referred  to  will  be  enforced,  I  need 
not  ask  the  War  Department  to  put  at  my  disposal  for 
the  purpose,  troops  in  the  service  of  the  United  States. 
I  am  the  more  unwilling  to  make  such  a  request  as 
they  could  not  be  withdrawn  in  any  considerable  num 
ber  from  the  field  without  prolonging  the  war  and 
giving  aid  and  encouragement  to  the  enemies  of  the 
Union,  at  the  very  moment  when  our  successes  promise, 


CORRESPONDENCE    WITH    GENERAL   DIX.  123 

with  a  vigorous  effort,  the  speedy  suppression  of  the 
rebellion. 

"  I  have  the  honor  to  be,  very  respectfully,  your 
obedient  servant.  JOHN  A.  DIX,  Maj.-Gen." 

To  this  letter,  the  Governor,  who  had  written  to 
the  President,  asking  a  suspension  of  the  draft,  and 
who  was  awaiting  his  answer,  replied  as  follows : 

"  ALBANY,  Monday,  Aug.  3c£,  1863. 
"  To  Maj.-GeneralJohn  A.  Dix,  Commanding  Eastern 

Department : 

"  SIR  :  I  received  your  letter  on  Saturday.  I  have 
this  day  sent  to  the  President  of  the  United  States  a 
communication  in  relation  to  the  draft  in  this  State.  I 
believe  his  answer  will  relieve  you  and  me  from  the 
painful  questions  growing  out  of  an  armed  enforce 
ment  of  the  Conscription  law  in  this  patriotic  State, 
which  has  contributed  so  largely  and  freely  to  the  sup 
port  of  the  national  cause  during  the  existing  war. 
When  I  receive  the  President's  answer,  I  will  write  to 
you  again  upon  the  subject  of  your  letter. 
"  Truly  yours,  &c., 

"  HORATIO  SEYMOUR." 

On  the  8th  of  August  General  Dix  again  addressed 
the  Governor.  He  said  : 

"It  is  my  duty  now,  as  commanding  officer  of  the 
troops  in  the  service  of  the  United  States  in  the  depart 
ment,  if  called  on  by  the  enrolling  officers,  to  aid  them 
in  resisting  forcible  opposition  to  the  execution  of  the 
law ;  and  it  was  from  an  earnest  desire  to  avoid  the 


124  LIFE    OF    HORATIO    SEYMOUR. 

necessity  of  employing  for  the  purpose  any  of  my  forces, 
which  have  been  placed  here  to  garrison  the  forts  arid 
protect  the  public  property,  that  I  wished  to  see  the 
draft  enforced  by  the  military  power  of  the  State  in 
case  of  armed  and  organized  resistance  to  it.  But 
holding  such  resistance  to  the  paramount  law  of  Con 
gress  to  be  disorganizing  and  revolutionary,  leading, 
unless  effectually  suppressed,  to  the  overthrow  of  the 
Government  itself,  to  the  success  of  the  insurgents  of 
the  seceded  States,  and  to  universal  anarchy,  I  de 
signed,  if  your  cooperation  could  not  be  relied  on,  to 
ask  the  General  Government  for  a  force  which  should 
be  adequate  to  ensure  the  execution  of  the  law,  and  to 
meet  any  emergency  growing  out  of  it." 

Governor  Seymour,  failing  to  procure,  at  the  hands 
of  the  General  Government,  a  suspension  of  the  draft, 
replied  as  follows,  on  the  15th  of  August: 

u  As  you  state  in  your  letter  that  it  is  your  duty  to 
enforce  the  act  of  Congress,  and  as  you  apprehend  its 
provisions  may  excite  popular  resistance,  it  is  proposed 
you  should  know  the  position  which  will  be  held  by  the 
State  authorities.  Of  course,  under  no  circumstances 
can  they  perform  duties  expressly  confided  to  others ; 
nor  can  they  undertake  to  relieve  others  from  their 
proper  responsibilities.  But  there  can  be  no  violations 
of  good  order  or  riotous  proceedings,  no  disturbances 
of  the  public  peace,  which  are  not  infractions  of  the 
laws  of  the  State,  and  those  laws  will  be  enforced  under 
all  circumstances.  I  shall  take  care  that  all  the  exec 
utive  officers  of  this  State  perform  their  duties  vigor 
ously  and  thoroughly,  and,  if  need  be,  the  military 
power  will  be  called  into  requisition. 


PROCLAMATION  BY  THE  GOVERNOR.        125 

"  As  you  are  an  officer  of  the  General  Government 
and  not  of  the  State,  it  does  not  become  me  to  make 
suggestions  to  you  with  regard  to  your  action  under 
a  law  of  Congress.  You  will,  of  course,  be  governed 
by  your  instructions,  and  by  your  own  views  of  duty." 

On  the  18th,  General  Dix  wrote  to  the  Governor 
again.  He  said : 

"  Not  having  received  an  answer  from  you,  I  ap 
plied  to  the  Secretary  of  War  on  the  14th  instant,  for 
a  force  adequate  to  the  object.  The  call  was  promptly 
responded  to,  and  I  shall  be  ready  to  meet  all  opposi 
tion  to  the  draft." 

To  this  letter  the  Governor  replied  on  the  20th. 
He  said  he  had  received  no  notice  when  the  draft  would 
take  place,  the  same  course  having  been  pursued  to 
wards  him  when  the  first  order  for  the  draft  was  issued, 
although  he  expected  such  notice,  and  hoped  some 
interval  would  be  allowed  between  the  notice  and  the 
draft,  adding: 

"  You  will  see  that  no  time  was  allowed  for  getting 
credits  for  volunteers,  for  making  suggestions  or  prepa 
rations.  I  do  not  know  that  the  fault  rests  with  Colonel 
Fry,  but  it  is  proper  for  me  to  state  these  facts.1' 

On  the  same  day,  in  view  of  the  resumption  of  the 
draft,  he  issued  the  following  proclamation : 

"EXECUTIVE  CHAMBER,  ALBANY,  ] 
"  August  ISth,  1863.      j 

"  I  have  received  information  that  the  draft  is  about 
to  be  made  in  the  cities  of  New  York  and  Brooklyn, 
and  I  understand  that  there  is  danger  of  disorderly 


126  LIFE    OF   HORATIO   SEYMOUE. 

and  riotous  attacks  upon  those  who  are  engaged  in 
executing  the  law  of  Congress. 

"  I  cannot  believe  that  any  considerable  number  of 
citizens  are  disposed  to  renew  the  shameful  and  sad 
scenes  of  the  past  month,  in  which  the  lives  of  so  many, 
as  well  of  the  innocent  as  of  the  guilty,  were  destroyed. 
Our  courts  are  now  consigning  to  severe  punishment 
many  of  those  who  were  then  guilty  of  acts  destructive 
of  the  lives  and  property  of  their  fellow-citizens.  These 
events  should  teach  all  that  real  or  imaginary  wrongs 
cannot  be  corrected  by  unlawful  violence.  The  liber 
ties  of  our  country  and  the  rights  of  our  citizens  can 
only  be  preserved  by  a  just  regard  for  legal  obligations, 
and  an  acquiescence  in  the  decision  of  judicial  tribunals. 

"  While  I  believe  it  would  have  been  a  wise  and 
humane  policy  to  have  procured  a  judicial  decision, 
with  regard  to  the  constitutionality  of  the  Conscription 
Act,  at  an  earlier  day  and  by  a  summary  process,  yet 
the  failure  to  do  this  in  no  degree  justifies  any  violent 
opposition  to  the  act  of  Congress.  Until  it  is  set  aside 
by  the  decision  of  judicial  tribunals,  it  must  be  obeyed 
like  any  other  act  of  the  State  or  National  Legislature. 

"  The  following  rule  of  duty  in  this  respect  was  laid 
down  in  the  farewell  address  of  Andrew  Jackson. 
This  view  has  always  been  accepted  by  the  friends  of 
our  Union  and  the  upholders  of  our  Constitution  : 

(Unconstitutional  or  oppressive  laws  may,  no  doubt, 
be  passed  by  Congress,  either  from  erroneous  views  or 
the  want  of  due  consideration..  If  they  are  in  reach  of 
judicial  authority,  the  remedy  is  easy  and  peaceful ; 
and,  if  from  the  character  of  the  law,  it  is  an  abuse  of 


PROCLAMATION  BY  THE  GOVERNOR.        127 

power  not  within  the  control  of  the  judiciary,  then  free 
discussion  and  calm  appeals  to  reason,  and  to  the  jus 
tice  of  the  people,  will  not  fail  to  redress  the  wrong. 
But  until  the  law  shall  be  declared  void  by  the  courts 
or  repealed  by  Congress,  no  individual  or  combination 
of  individuals  can  be  justified  in  resisting  its  execution.) 

"  The  antagonistic  doctrine  that  men  may  rightfully 
resist  laws  opposed  to  their  own  ideas  of  right  or  duty 
has  not  only  led  to  great  disorders  and  violence,  but  is 
one  of  the  chief  causes  of  the  destructive  civil  war  which 
has  wasted  the  blood  and  treasure  of  our  people.  Dis 
regard  for  the  sacredness  of  the  Constitution,  for  the 
majesty  of  the  law,  and  for  the  decisions  of  the  judi 
ciary,  is,  at  this  time,  the  greatest  danger  which  threat 
ens  American  liberty. 

u  This  spirit  of  disloyalty  must  be  put  down.  It 
is  inconsistent  with  social  order  and  social  security, 
destructive  to  the  safety  of  persons  and  property,  and 
subversive  of  the  liberty  of  the  citizen  and  the  freedom 
of  the  nation.  Those  who  fear  that  there  are  designs 

o 

in  any  quarter  to  overthrow  the  rights  of  the  citizen, 
or  to  obstruct  the  accustomed  administration  of  our 
laws,  or  to  usurp  any  power  in  violation  of  constitu 
tional  restraints,  should  bear  in  mind  that  all  acts  of 
violence,  all  public  disorders,  pave  the  way  for  these 
very  usurpations,  and  that  they  will  be  regarded  with 
satisfaction  by  those  who,  for  any  cause,  may  wish  to 
destroy  either  the  power  or  rights  of  our  National  or 
State  Governments. 

"The  Constitution  and  Statutes  of  the  State  and 
nation  contain  ample  remedies  for  all  wrongs  which 


128  LIFE    OF    HOEATIO    SEYMOUR. 

may  be  committed  either  by  rulers  or  citizens,  and 
those  who  wish  to  preserve  their  rights,  or  to  punish 
offenders,  whether  in  public  or  in  private  life,  should 
themselves  carefully  perform  their  duty,  abstain  from 
all  illegal  acts,  generously  support  the  Government, 
and  then  calmly  and  resolutely  claim  their  rights. 

"  I  again  repeat  the  warning  which  I  gave  to  you 
during  the  riotous  proceedings  of  the  past  month,  that 
'the  only  opposition  to  the  conscription  which  can  be 
allowed  is  an  appeal  to  the  courts.  The  right  of  every 
citizen  to  make  such  an  appeal  will  be  maintained,  and 
the  decision  of  the  courts  must  be  respected  and  obeyed 
by  rulers  and  people  alike.  No  other  course  is  con 
sistent  with  the  maintenance  of  the  laws,  the  peace  and 
order  of  the  city,  and  the  safety  of  its  inhabitants. 
Riotous  proceedings  must  and  shall  be  put  down.  The 
laws  of  the  State  of  New  York  must  be  enforced,  its 
peace  and  order  maintained,  and  the  lives  and  prop 
erty  of  all  citizens  protected,  at  any  and  every  haz 
ard.  The  rights  of  every  citizen  will  be  properly 
guarded  and  defended  by  the  chief  magistrate  of  the 
State.1 

"  I  hereby  admonish  all  judicial  and  executive  offi 
cers,  whose  duty  it  is  to  enforce  the  law  and  preserve 
public  order,  that  they  take  vigorous  and  effective 
measures  to  put  down  any  riotous  or  unlawful  assem 
blages  ;  and  if  they  find  their  power  insufficient  for  that 
purpose,  to  call  upon  the  military  in  the  manner  pointed 
out  by  the  Statutes  of  the  State.  If  these  measures 
should  prove  insufficient,  I  shall  then  exert  the  full 
power  of  the  State,  in  order  that  the  public  order  may 


REVIEW  OF  THE  GOVERNOR^  ACTS.        129 

be  preserved,  and  the  persons  and  properties  of  the 
citizens  be  fully  protected. 

"  HORATIO  SEYMOUR." 


The  action  of  Governor  Seymour  respecting  the 
draft,  has,  of  course,  been  denounced  by  the  Republi 
can  press,  who  spare  no  man  whose  crime  is  a  differ 
ence  of  opinion  from  them,  and  many  good,  fair-mind 
ed  men,  owing  to  a  wilful  misrepresentation  of  facts, 
have  been  led  to  believe  that  he  used  his  power  and 
influence  to  defeat  the  efforts  of  the  General  Govern 
ment  to  fill  up  the  ranks  of  the  army.  Let  us  look 
at  the  case  for  a  moment.  Our  review  of  it  is  based 
solely  upon  the  facts  given  herein. 

Governor  Seymour,  in  common  with  thousands  of 
other  true  men,  believed  the  draft  to  be  a  violation  of 
the  rights  guaranteed  the  State  of  New  York  by  the 
Federal  Constitution.  He  asked  its  suspension  at  the 
hands  of  the  Government  until  the  Courts  could  de 
cide  upon  its  constitutionality,  and,  as  the  recruiting 
was  going  on  briskly  all  over  the  State,  he  was  war 
ranted  in  believing  that  such  suspension  would  not 
weaken  the  cause  or  armies  of  the  Union.  The  Gov 
ernment  refused  his  request,  and  he  submitted  to  its 
decision.  He  pointed  out  the  inequalities  of  the  sys 
tem  which  the  Federal  authorities  proposed  to  inaugu 
rate,  and  asked  that  the  injustice  thus  done  to  the 
people  of  New  York  should  be  remedied.  His  plain 
duty  was  to  protect,  as  far  as  lay  in  his  power,  the 
rights  of  the  people  of  his  State,  and  he  would  have 
been  false  to  his  oath  of  office  had  he  not  done  so.  It 
9 


130  LIFE    OF   HORATIO    SEYMOUR. 

was  not  fair  that  the  chief  burden  of  the  war  should 
be  made  to  fall  upon  New  York,  which  State  had  al 
ready  voluntarily  taken  the  lead  in  filling  up  the  army, 
for  the  war  was  not  fought  for  the  benefit  of  that  State 
alone.  All  the  members  of  the  Union  were  interested 
in  it,  and  it  was  but  right  that  each  one  should  furnish 
its  proportionately  equal  share  of  men.  Governor 
Seymour  asked  no  more  than  this.  He  also  pointed 
out  the  inequality  of  the  demands  made  upon  the  va 
rious  portions  of  the  State  and  asked  to  have  them 
equalized.  He  protested  that  it  was  not  fair  to  make 
the  heaviest  demands  on  the  An ti- Administration  dis 
tricts,  arid  the  fact  that  the  War  Department  hoped  to 
simplify  in  this  way  the  opposition  to  the  Administra 
tion,  does  not  affect  the  justice  of  the  Governor's  plea. 
When  General  Dix  asked  him  to  enforce  the  draft 
by  using  the  military  power  of  the  State  for  that  pur 
pose,  he  very  properly  declined  to  do  so.  The  Federal 
Government  had  completely  ignored  both  the  State  of 
New  York  and  its  officials  in  the  matter  of  the  draft. 
The  measure  itself  was  a  violation  of  the  Constitu 
tional  rights  of  the  State  of  New  York,  an  outrage 
upon  her,  against  which  her  constituted  authorities 
and  a  majority  of  her  people  had  protested,  and  it 
would  have  been  simply  infamous  in  Mr.  Seymour  to 
have  complied  with  General  Dix's  request.  Further 
than  this,  the  Conscription  bill  was  a  Federal  law.  It 
was  the  duty  of  Federal  officers  alone  to  execute  it ; 
they  alone  were  responsible  for  the  manner  in  which  it 
was  carried  out,  and  the  officials  of  the  State  of  New 
York  could  not  legally  take  their  places,  or  incur  their 


REVIEW    OF   THE    GOVERNOR'S    ACTS.  131 

responsibility.  The  Governor  offered  no  opposition 
to  the  law,  but  manfully  insisted  upon  its  execution 
by  the  proper  persons.  So  far,  indeed,  from  medita 
ting  or  countenancing  resistance,  his  proclamation  al 
ready  given,  sternly  denounced  any  such  course.  This 
proclamation  is  generally  passed  over  by  his  traducers, 
but  it  is  certain  that  no  more  "loyal,"  to  use  a  much 
abused  term,  state  paper  ever  issued  from  any  Repub 
lican  Governor  at  any  period  before,  during,  or  since 
the  war. 

Nor  were  the  Governor's  objections  to  the  provis 
ions  of  the  draft  unsupported  by  facts.  The  state 
ment  prepared  by  the  Adjutant-General  of  the  State 
showed  that  the  draft  as  proposed,  would  throw  upon 
the  eastern  portion  of  the  State,  comprising  less  than 
one  third  of  the  Congressional  districts,  more  than 
one  half  of  the  burdens  of  the  conscription.  In  sup 
port  of  his  assertion  that  the  heaviest  demand  was 
made  upon  the  Anti-Lincoln  districts,  the  Governor 
submitted  the  following  statement,  also  prepared  by 
the  Adjutant-General  of  the  State  : 

"  The  nine  Anti-Lincoln  districts  are  required  to 
furnish  nearly  as  many  conscripts  as  the  nineteen  Lin 
coln  districts,  although  the  latter  polled  more  than 
three  times  as  many  votes  ;  as  follows  : 


132 


LIFE    OF   HORATIO   SEYMOUR. 


I860. 


LINCOLN  DISTRICTS. 


ANTI-LINCOLN  DISTRICTS. 


District. 

Total  Vote. 

Cons, 
required. 

District. 

Total  Vote. 

Cons, 
required. 

12 

22,664 
19,698 
25,540 
17,167 
20,874 
27,389 
29,188 
28,522 
21,519 
23,995 
24,070 
28,497 
22,317 
25,566 
27,673 
24,204 
22,541 
23,315 
21,518 

2,013 
2,006 
2,370 
1,493 
1,818 
2,310 
2,387 
2,448 
1,746 
2,068 
2,088 
2,202 
1,936 
2,152 
2,419 
2,051 
1,767 
2,539 
1,753 

1 

19,194 
17,369 
19,297 
17,253 
15,731 
17,056 
14,832 
19.440 
11,271 

2,212 
4,146 
2,697 
5,881 
3,390 
4,538 
3,452 
4,892 
2,521 

13 

2  

15 

3 

16           .    . 

4  

17 

5  

18 

6 

19 

7  

20  „ 

8     

21  

on 

9  

Totals  

23  

151,243 

33,729 

24 

25  

26 

27  

28  

29 

30  

31 

Totals  

457,257 

39,626 

The  War  Department  referred  Governor  Seymour's 
objections  to  a  commission,  consisting  of  William  F. 
Allen,  of  New  York,  John  Love,  of  Indiana,  and 
Chauncey  Smith,  of  Massachusetts,  for  the  purpose 
of  examining  them  and  determining  upon  some  fair 
mode  of  correcting  the  inequalities  complained  of. 
These  gentlemen  made  a  formal  report  to  the  Govern 
ment,  sustaining  the  objections  of  Governor  Seymour 
as  to  an  excess  of  enrolment,  and  an  allowance  of 
13,000  men  ivas  at  once  made  ~by  the  War  Department. 
At  the  next  session,  the  Legislature,  consisting  of  103 
Administration  or  Republican  members  and  57  Dem- 


ENLISTMENT  OF  COLORED  TROOPS.         133 

ocrats,  passed  a  vote  of  thanks  to  the  Governor  for  his 
successful  conduct  of  the  affair* 

Later  in  the  year,  inquiries  were  made  of  Govern 
or  Seymour  relative  to  the  enlistment  of  colored  troops, 
to  which  he  replied  as  follows : 

"  STATE  OF  NEW  YORK,  EXECUTIVE  DEPARTMENT,  } 

"  ALBANY,  Nov.  l±th.          J 

"  SIR  :  In  answer  to  your  inquiries  about  enlist 
ment  of  blacks  and  the  organization  of  regiments  and 
companies,  I  have  to  say : 

"  1st.  That,  under  the  State  laws,  the  bounty  is 
paid  to  all  without  distinction,  who  are  mustered  into 
the  service  of  the  United  States,  and  for  whom  credits 
are  given  to  New  York  under  the  President's  call  for 
troops. 

u  2d.  As  to  new  organizations,  I  have  no  power  to 
authorize  any,  either  blacks  or  whites,  which  will  be 
entitled  to  the  bounty  given  by  the  General  Govern 
ment.  The  object  at  Washington  is  to  fill  up  the  ranks 
of  the  regiments  in  the  field.  If  any  new  organiza 
tions  for  either  white  or  black  troops  are  made,  they 
must  be  authorized  by  the  War  Department  to  entitle 

*  The  following  is  the  resolution  passed  by  the  Legislature  on  the  16th 
of  April,  1864: 

"  Resolved,  That  the  thanks  of  this  House  be,  and  are  hereby  ten 
dered  to  his  Excellency,  Governor  Seymour,  for  calling  the  attention  of  the 
General  Government  at  Washington  to  the  errors  in  the  apportionment 
of  the  quota  of  this  State,  under  the  enrolment  act  of  March  3,  1863, 
and  for  his  prompt  and  efficient  efforts  in  procuring  a  correction  of  the 
same. 

"Resolved,  That  the  Clerk  of  this  House  transmit  to  the  Governor  a 
copy  of  this  report  and  resolution." 


134  LIFE    OF   HORATIO    SEYMOUR. 

those  who  join  them  to  the  benefit  of  the  money  paid 
to  volunteers.  Yours,  &c. 

"  HORATIO  SEYMOUR. 
"  To  JAMES  RODGERS, 

"  No.  421  Broadvyay,  N.  Y.  City." 


CHAPTER  VII. 

Meeting  of  the  Democratic  Convention  of  the  State — Pledges  its  Support 
to  the  Government  in  all  lawful  Measures  for  bringing  the  War  to 
a  successful  Close— Mnss  Meeting  at  Albany  to  consider  the  un 
lawful  Arrest  of  Mr.  Vallandigham — Letter  of  the  Governor — Pro 
ceedings  of  the  Meeting — Correspondence  of  the  Committee  with  the 
President — Meetings  throughout  the  State — Course  of  Governor 
Seymour  indorsed  by  all — Democratic  Meeting  at  Syracuse — Elo 
quent  Speech  of  Governor  Seymour — A  Plain  Statement  of  Facts — 
Meeting  of  the  Legislature — The  Governor's  Message— Review  of  the 
Draft,  and  his  Action  therein — Statement  of  his  action  during  the 
Riots — Eloquent  Appeal  for  the  Union — Efforts  of  the  Governor 
in  behalf  of  the  Credit  of  the  State— His  Success. 

The  State  Democratic  Convention  met  at  Albany 
on  the  10th  of  September,  1863.  This  body  pledged 
the  support  of  the  Democrats  of  New  York  to  the 
Government  in  "  all  legitimate  means  to  suppress  the 
Rebellion  and  restore  the  Union."  It  declared  that 
the  Government  was  pledged  to  conduct  the  war  solely 
for  the  objects  avowed  by  the  resolutions  of  Congress 
in  July,  1861,  that  illegal  and  arbitrary  arrests  were 
violations  of  the  Constitution,  a  usurpation  and  a 
crime,  that  the  Government  should  endeavor  to  con 
ciliate  the  people  of  the  South ;  that  the  claim  of  the 
authority  of  the  General  Government  to  destroy  the 
rights  and  obliterate  the  boundaries  of  the  States  is  as 
false  and  dangerous  as  the  doctrine  of  secession  ;  that 
the  Constitution  and  laws  do  not  cease  to  be  binding 
in  time  of  war ;  that  the  soldiers  and  sailors  deserve 


136  LIFE    OF    HORATIO    SEYMOUR. 

the  gratitude  of  the  nation  ;  that  the  results  of  con 
scription  ought  to  admonish  the  Government  "  to  rely 
upon  the  voluntary  action  of  a  patriotic  people ;"  and 
that  mob  violence  is  a  crime  against  a  people  and  a 
Republican  Government.  The  administration  of  Gov 
ernor  Seymour  was  declared  worthy  of  the  highest  ap 
proval  of  all  true  friends  of  the  Union. 

On  the  16th  of  May,  1863,  a  public  meeting  was 
held  at  Albany,  to  consider  the  unlawful  arrest  of 
Mr.  Vallandigham.  Governor  Seymour  was  not  able 
to  be  present,  but  sent  the  following  letter  to  the 
Committee  of  Invitation  : 

"  STATE  OF  NEW  YORK,  EXECUTIVE  DEPARTMENT,  | 
"ALBANY,  July  16*A,  1863.     j 

u  To  Peter  Cagger,  Solomon  F.  Higgins,  Erastus  Corn 
ing,  Jr.,  Committee: 

"  I  cannot  attend  the  meeting  at  the  capitol  this 
evening,  but  I  wish  to  state  my  opinion  in  regard  to 
the  arrest  of  Mr.  Vallandigham. 

"  It  is  an  act  which  has  brought  dishonor  upon  our 
country  ;  it  is  full  of  danger  to  our  persons  and  to  our 
homes  ;  it  bears  upon  its  front  a  conscious  violation  of 
law  and  of  justice.  Acting  upon  the  evidence  of  de 
tailed  informers,  shrinking  from  the  light  of  day  in  the 
darkness  of  night,  armed  men  violated  the  home  of  an 
American  citizen,  and  furtively  bore  him  away  to  a 
military  trial,  conducted  without  those  safeguards 
known  to  the  proceedings  of  our  judicial  tribunals. 

"  The  transaction  involved  a  series  of  offences  against 
our  most  sacred  rights.     It  interfered  with  the  freedom 


LETTER    OF    GOVERNOR    SEYMOUR.  137 

of  speech ;  it  violated  our  rights  to  be  secure  in  our 
homes  against  unreasonable  searches  and  seizures  ;  it 
pronounced  sentence  without  a  trial,,  save  one  which 
was  a  mockery,  which  insulted  as  well  as  wronged. 
The  perpetrators  now  seek  to  impose  punishment,  not 
for  an  offence  against  law,  but  for  a  disregard  for 
an  invalid  order,  put  forth  in  an  utter  disregard  of 
principles  of  civil  liberty.  If  this  proceeding  is  ap 
proved  by  the  Government,  and  sanctioned  by  the 
people,  it  is  not  merely  a  step  toward  revolution,  it 
is  revolution ;  it  will  not  only  lead  to  military  despotism, 
it  establishes  military  despotism.  In  this  aspect  it  must 
be  accepted,  or  in  this  aspect  it  must  be  rejected. 

"If  it  is  upheld,  our  liberties  are  overthrown. 
The  safety  of  our  persons,  the  security  of  our  prop 
erty,  will  hereafter  depend  upon  the  arbitrary  wills 
of  such  military  rulers  as  may  be  placed  over  us, 
while  our  constitutional  guarantees  will  be  broken 
down.  Even  now  the  Governors  and  the  courts  of 
some  of  the  great  Western  States  have  sunk  into 
insignificance  before  the  despotic  powers  claimed  and 
exercised  by  military  men  who  have  been  sent  into 
their  borders.  It  is  a  fearful  thing  to  increase  the 
danger  which  now  overhangs  us,  by  treating  the  law, 
the  judiciary,  and  the  authorities  of  States  with  con 
tempt.  The  people  of  this  country  now  wait  with 
the  deepest  anxiety  the  decisions  of  the  Administra 
tion  upon  these  acts.  Having  given  it  a  generous 
support  in  the  conduct  of  the  war,  we  now  pause  to 
see  what  kind  of  Government  it  is  for  which  we  are 
asked  to  pour  out  our  blood  and  our  treasures. 


138  LIFE    OF    HORATIO    SEYMOUR. 

"  The  action  of  the  Administration  will  determine 
in  the  minds  of  more  than  half  of  the  people  of 
the  loyal  States,  whether  this  war  is  waged  to  put 
down  rebellion  at  the  South,  or  to  destroy  free  in 
stitutions  at  the  North.  We  look  for  its  decision  with 
the  most  solemn  solicitude.* 

"  HORATIO  SEYMOUR." 

*  The  results  of  this  meeting  are  so  important  that  we  append  them 
hero  : 

ALBANY,  May  19^,  1863. 
To  Ms  Excellency  the  President  of  the  United  States  : 

The  undersigned,  officers  of  a  public  meeting  held  in  the  city  of  Al 
bany  the  16th  day  of  May  in>tant,  herewith  transmit  to  your  Excellency 
a  copy  of  the  resolutions  adopted  at  the  said  meeting,  and  respectfully 
request  your  earnest  consideration  of  them.  They  deem  it  proper  on 
their  personal  responsibility  to  state  that  the  meeting  was  one  of  the 
most  respectable  as  to  numbers  and  character,  and  one  of  the  most  earnest 
in  support  of  the  Union  ever  held  in  this  city. 
Yours,  with  great  regard, 

ERASTUS  CORNING,  President. 

Vice-Presidents — Eli  Perry,  Peter  Gansevoort,  Peter  Mouteath,  Sam 
uel  "W.  Gibbs,  John  Niblock,  H.  W.  McOlellan,  Lemuel  W.  Rodgers, 
William  Seymour,  Jeremiah  Osborn,  William  S.  Paddock,  J.  B.  Sanders, 
Edward  Mulcahy,  D.  V.  N.  Radcliff. 

Secretaries — William  A.  Rice,  Edward  Newcomb,  R.  W.  Peckham,  jr., 
M.  A.  Nolan,  John  R.  Nessle,  and  others. 

The  resolutions  were  as  follows : 

Resolved,  That  the  Democrats  of  New  York  point  to  their  uniform 
course  of  action  during  the  two  years  of  civil  war  through  which  we  have 
passed,  to  the  alacrity  which  they  have  evinced  in  filling  the  ranks  of  the 
army,  to  their  contributions  and  sacrifices,  as  the  evidence  of  their  pa 
triotism  and  devotion  to  the  cause  of  our  imperilled  country.  Never  in 
the  history  of  civil  wars  has  a  Government  been  sustained  with  snch 
ample  resources  of  means  and  men,  as  the  people  have  voluntarily  placed 
in  the  hands  of  this  Administration. 

Resolved,  That  as  Democrats,  we  are  determined  to  maintain  this 
patriotic  attitude,  and,  despite  of  adverse  and  disheartening  circumstances, 
to  devote  all  our  energies  to  sustain  the  cause  of  the  Union,  to  secure 


MASS    MEETING    IN   NEW   YORK.  139 

The  Conservative  citizens  of  New  York  city,  at 
a  mass  meeting  in  Union  Square,  adopted  the  fol 
lowing  resolutions  relative  to  the  arrest  of  Mr. 


peace  through  victory,  and  to  bring  about  the  restoration  of  all  the  States 
under  the  safeguards  of  the  Constitution. 

Resolved,  That  while  we  will  not  consent  to  be  misrepresented  upon 
these  points,  we  are  determined  not  to  be  misunderstood  in  regard  to 
others  not  less  essential.  We  demand  that  the  Administration  shall  be 
true  to  the  Constitution,  shall  recognize  and  maintain  the  rights  of"  the 
States  and  the  liberties  of  the  citizen,  shall  everywhere  outside  of  the 
lines  of  necessary  military  occupation  and  the  scenes  of  insurrection,  exert 
all  its  powers  to  maintain  the  supremacy  of  the  civil  over  military  law. 

Resolced,  That  in  view  of  these  principles  we  denounce  the  recent 
assumption  of  a  military  commander  to  seize  and  try  a  citizen  of  Ohio, 
Clement  L.  Yallandigham,  for  no  other  reason  than  words  addressed  to 
a  public  meeting,  in  criticism  of  the  course  of  the  Administration,  and  in 
condemnation  of  the  military  orders  of  that  general. 

Resohed,  That  this  assumption  of  power  by  a  military  tribunal,  if  suc 
cessfully  asserted,  not  only  abrogates  the  right  of  the  people  to  assemble 
and  discuss  the  affairs  of  Government,  the  liberty  of  speech  and  of  the 
press,  the  right  of  trial  by  jury,  the  law  of  evidence,  and  the  privilege  of 
habeas  corpus,  but  it  strikes  a  fatal  blow  at  the  supremacy  of  law,  and 
the  authority  of  the  State  and  Federal  Constitutions. 

Resolved,  That  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States — the  supreme 
law  of  the  land — has  defined  the  crime  of  treason  against  the  United 
States  to  consist  "  only  in  levying  war  against  them,  or  adhering  to  their 
enemies,  giving  them  aid  and  comfort;"  and  has  provided  that  "no 
person  shall  be  convicted  of  treason,  unless  on  the  testimony  of  two  wit 
nesses  to  the  same  overt  act,  or  on  confession  in  open  court."  And  it 
further  provides  that  "  no  person  shall  be  held  to  answer  for  a  capital 
or  otherwise  infamous  crime,  unless  on  a  presentment  or  indictment  of 
a  grand  jury;  except  in  cases  arising  in  the  land  and  naval  forces,  or  in 
the  militia,  when  in  actual  service  in  time  of  war  or  public  danger;  " 
and  further,  that  "  in  all  criminal  prosecutions,  the  accused  shall  enjoy 
the  right  of  a  speedy  and  public  trial,  by  an  impartial  jury  of  the  State 
and  district  wherein  the  crime  was  committed." 

Resolved,  That  these  safeguards  of  the  rights  of  the  citizen  against  the 
pretensions  of  arbitrary  power,  were  intended  more  especially  for  his 
protection  in  times  of  civil  commotion.  They  were  secured  substantially 


140  LIFE    OF   HORATIO    SEYMOUR. 

Vallandigham    and    the    letter    of    Governor    Sey 
mour  : 

,  within  a  State  where  the  Courts  of  law 


to  the  English  people,  after  years  of  protracted  civil  war,  and  were 
adopted  into  our  own  Constitution  at  the  close  of  the  Revolution.  They 
have  stood  the  test  of  seventy-six  years  of  trial  under  our  republican 
system,  under  circumstances  which  show  that  while  they  constitute  the 
foundation  of  all  free  government,  they  are  the  elements  of  the  enduring 
stability  of  the  republic. 

Resolved,  That  in  adopting  the  language  of  Daniel  Webster,  we  de 
clare,  u  it  is  the  ancient  and  undoubted  prerogative  of  this  people  to  can 
vass  public  measures  and  the  merits  of  public  men.  It  is  a  '  homebred 
right,'  a  fireside  privilege.  It  has  been  enjoyed  in  every  house,  cottage, 
and  cabin  in  the  nation.  It  is  as  undoubted  as  the  right  of  breathing  the 
air  or  walking  on  the  earth.  Belonging  to  private  life  as  a  right,  it  be 
longs  to  public  life  as  a  duty,  and  it  is  the  last  duty  which  those  whose 
representatives  we  are  shall  find  us  to  abandon.  Aiming  at  all  times  to 
be  courteous  and  temperate  in  its  use.  except  when  the  right  itself  is 
questioned,  we  shall  place  ourselves  on  the  extreme  boundary  of  our  own 
right,  and  bid  defiance  to  any  arm  that  would  move  us  from  our  ground. 
This  high  constitutional  privilege  we  shall  defend  arid  exercise  in  all 
places;  in  time  of  peace,  in  time  of  war,  and  at  all  times.  Living,  we 
shall  assert  it ;  and  should  we  leave  no  other  inheritance  to  our  children, 
by  the  blessing  of  God  we  will  leave  them  the  inheritance  of  tree  prin 
ciples  and  the  example  of  a  manly,  independent,  and  constitutional  de 
fence  of  them." 

Resolved,  That  in  the  election  of  Gov.  Seymour,  the  people  of  this 
State,  by  an  emphatic  majority,  declared  their  condemnation  of  the  sys 
tem  of  arbitrary  arrests,  and  their  determination  to  stand  by  the  Consti 
tution.  That  the  revival  of  this  lawless  system  can  have  but  one  result, 
to  divide  and  distract  the  North,  and  destroy  its  confidence  in  the  pur 
poses  of  the  Administration.  That  we  deprecate  it  as  an  element  of  con 
fusion  at  home,  of  weakness  to  our  armies  in  the  field,  and  as  calculated 
to  lower  the  estimate  of  American  character  and  magnify  the  apparent 
peril  of  our  cause  abroad.  And  that,  regarding  the  blow  struck  at  a 
citizen  of  Ohio  as  aimed  at  the  rights  of.  every  citizen  of  the  North,  we 
denounce  it  as  against  the  spirit  of  our  laws  and  Constitution,  and  most 
earnestly  call  upon  the  President  of  the  United  States  lo  reverse  the  ac 
tion  of  the  military  tribunal  which  has  passed  a  "  cruel  and  unusual  pun- 


LETTER    OF    THE    PRESIDENT.  141 

are  open  and  their  process  unimpeded,  soldiers  under 
the  command  of  officers  of  the  United  States  army 
have  broken  into  the  residence  and  forcibly  abducted 


ishment"  upon  the  party  arrested,  prohibited  in  terms  by  the  Constitu 
tion,  and  to  restore  him  to  the  liberty  of  which  he  has  been  deprived. 

Resolved,  That  the  president,  vice-presidents,  and  secretary  of  this 
meeting  be  requested  to  transmit  a  copy  of  these  resolutions  to  his  Excel 
lency  the  President  of  the  United  States,  with  the  assurance  of  this 
meeting  of  their  hearty  and  earnest  desire  to  support  the  Government 
in  every  constitutional  and  lawful  measure  to  suppress  the  existing  re 
bellion. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION,  WASHINGTON,  } 
June  12^,  1863.      f 
Hon.  Erastus  Corning,  and  others  : 

GENTLEMEN:  Your  letter  of  May  19th,  enclosing  the  resolutions  of  a 
public  meeting  held  in  Albany,  N.  Y.,  on  the  16th  of  the  same  month, 
was  received  several  days  ago. 

The  resolutions,  as  I  understand  them,  are  resolvable  into  two  prop 
ositions — first,  the  expression  of  a  purpose  to  sustain  the  cause  of 
the  Union,  to  secure  peace  through  victory,  and  to  support  the  Adminis 
tration  in  every  constitutional  and  lawful  measure  to  suppress  the  rebel 
lion  ;  and,  secondly,  a  declaration  of  censure  upon  the  Administration 
for  supposed  unconstitutional  action,  such  as  the  making  of  military  ar 
rests.  And  from  the  two  propositions  a  third  is  deduced,  which  is,  that 
the  gentlemen  composing  the  meeting  are  resolved  on  doing  their  part  to 
maintain  our  common  Government  and  country,  despite  the  folly  or 
wickedness,  as  they  may  conceive,  of  any  Administration.  This  position 
is  eminently  patriotic,  a*id  as  such  I  thank  the  meeting,  and  congratulate 
the  nation  for  it.  My  own  purpose  is  the  same,  so  that  the  meeting  and 
myself  have  a  common  object,  and  can  have  no  difference,  except  in  the 
choice  of  means  or  measures  for  effecting  that  object. 

And  here  I  ought  to  close  this  paper,  and  would  close  it,  if  there  were 
no  apprehension  that  more  injurious  consequences  than  any  merely  per 
sonal  to  myself  might  follow  the  censures  systematically  cast  upon  me 
for  doing  what,  in  my  view  of  duty,  I  could  not  forbear.  The  resolutions 
promise  to  support  me  in  every  constitutional  and  lawful  measure  to  sup 
press  the  rebellion ;  and  I  have  not  knowingly  employed,  nor  shall  know 
ingly  employ,  any  other. 


142  LIFE    OF   HORATIO    SEYMOUR. 

from  his  home,  the  Hon.  Clement  L.  Vallandigham ; 
and  whereas,  a  body  of  men,  styled  a  military  commis 
sion,  have  arraigned  before  them  and  tried  the  said 


But  the  meeting,  by  their  resolutions,  assert  and  argue  that  certain 
military  arrests,  and  proceedings  following  them,  for  which  I  am  ulti 
mately  responsible,  are  unconstitutional.  I  think  they  are  not.  The  reso 
lutions  quote  i'rum  the  Constitution  the  defini. ion  of  treason,  and  also  the 
limiting  safeguards  and  puarante.s  therein  provided  for  the  citizen  on 
trial  for  treason,  and  on  his  being  held  to  answer  for  capital  or  otherwise 
infamous  crimes,  and  in  criminal  prosecutions,  his  right  to  a  speedy  and 
public  trial  by  an  impartial  jury.  They  proceed  to  resolve  "that  these 
safeguards  of  the  rights  of  the  citizen  against  the  pretensions  of  arbitrary 
power  were  intended  more  especially  for  his  protection  in  times  of  civil 
commotion."  And,  apparently  to  demonstrate  the  proposition,  the  reso 
lutions  proceed,  "they  were  secured  substantially  to  the  English  people 
after  years  of  protracted  civil  war,  and  were  adopted  into  our  Constitu 
tion  at  the  close  of  the  Revolution."  Would  not  the  demonstration  have 
been  belter  if  it  could  have  been  truly  said  that  these  safeguards  had 
been  adopted  and  applied  during  the  civil  wars  and  during  our  Revolu 
tion,  in>tead  of  after  the  one  and  at  the  close  of  the  other?  I,  too,  am 
devo'edly  far  them  after  civil  war  and  before  civil  war,  and  at  all  times, 
"  except  when,  in  cases  of  rebellion  and  invasion,  the  public  safety  may 
require  "  th.  ir  suspension.  The  resolutions  proceed  to  tell  us  that  these 
safeguards  'lhave  stood  the  test  of  seventy-six  years  of  trial,  under  our 
republican  syst<  in,  under  circumstances  which  show  that  while  they  con 
stitute  the  foundation  of  all  free  government,  they  are  the  elements  of 
the  enduring  stability  of  the  republic."  No  one  denies  that  they  have  so 
stood  the  test  up  to  the  beginning  of  the  present  rebellion,  if  we  except 
a  certain  occurrence  at  New  Orleans ;  nor  does  any  one  question  that  they 
will  stand  the  same  test  much  longer  after  the  rebellion  closes.  But 
these  provisions  of  the  Constitution  have  no  application  to  the  case  we 
have  in  hand,  because  the  arrests  complained  of  were  not  made  for 
treason — that  is,  not  for  the  treason  defined  in  the  Constitution,  and  upon 
the  convict'on  of  which  the  punishment  is  death ;  nor  yet  were  they 
made  to  hold  persons  to  answer  for  any  capital  or  otherwise  infamous 
crimes;  nor  were  the  proceedings  following,  in  any  constitutional  or  legal 
sense,  "criminal  prosecutions."  The  arrests  were  made  on  totally  dif 
ferent  grounds,  and  the  proceedings  following  accorded  with  the  grounds 
of  the  arrests. 


RESOLUTIONS    ADOPTED.  143 

Hon.  C.  L.  Vallandigham,  a  civilian  and  eminent  pub 
lic  man,  for  words  spoken  in  the  discussion  of  public 
questions  before  an  assemblage  of  his  fellow-citizens ; 

Let  us  consider  the  real  case  with  which  we  are  dealing,  and  apply 
to  it  the  parts  of  the  Constitution  plainly  made  for  such  cases. 

Prior  to  my  installation  here  it  h;;d  been  inculcated  that  any  State 
had  a  lawful  right  to  secede  from  the  national  Union,  and  that  it  would 
be  expedient  to  exercise  the  right  whenever  the  devotees  of  the  doctrine 
should  fail  to  elect  a  President  to  their  own  liking1.  I  was  elected  con 
trary  to  their  liking ;  and,  accordingly,  so  far  as  it  was  legal' y  possible, 
they  had  taken  seven  States  out  of  the  Union,  had  seized  muny  of  the 
United  States  forts,  and  had  fired  upon  the  United  States  flag,  all  before 
I  was  inaugurated,  and,  of  course,  before  I  had  done  any  official  net  what 
ever.  The  rebellion  thus  begun  scon  ran  into  the  present  civil  war ; 
and,  in  certain  respects,  it  began  on  very  unequal  terms  between  the 
parties.  The  insurgents  had  been  preparing  for  it  for  more  than  thirty 
years,  while  the  Government  had  taken  no  steps  to  resist  them.  The 
former  had  carefully  considered  all  the  means  which  could  be  turned  to 
their  account.  It  undoubtedly  was  a  well-pondered  reliance  with  them 
that  in  their  own  unrestricted  efforts  to  destroy  Union,  Constitution,  and 
law,  all  together,  the  Government  would,  in  a  great  degree,  be  restrained 
by  the  s^me  Constitution  and  law  from  arresting  their  progress.  Their 
sympathizers  pervaded  all  departments  of  the  Government  and  nearly  all 
communities  of  the  people.  From  this  material,  under  cover  of  "  liberty 
of  speech,"  ''liberty  of  the  press,"  and  "habeas  corpus,"  they  hoped  to 
keep  on  foot  amongst  us  a  most  efficient  corps  of  spies,  ii:f  -rmers,  sup 
pliers,  and  aiders  aid  abettors  of  the'.r  cause  in  a  thousand  ways.  They 
knew  that  in  times  such  as  they  were  inaugurating,  by  the  Constitution 
itself,  the  habeas  corpus  might  be  suspended;  but  they  also  knew  they 
had  friends  who  would  make  a  question  as  to  who  was  to  suspend  it; 
meanwhile  their  spies  and  others  nrght  remain  at  large  to  help  on  their 
cause.  Or  if,  as  has  happened,  the  executive  should  snspe  d  the  writ, 
without  ruinous  waste  of  time,  instances  of  arresting  innocent  persons 
'might  occur,  as  are  always  likely  to  occur  in  such  cases;  and  then  a 
clamor  could  be  raised  in  regard  to  this,  which  might  be.  at  least,  of 
some  service  to  the  insurgent  cause.  It'needed  no  very  keen  per  eption 
to  discover  this  part  of  the  enemy's  programme,  so  soon  as  by  open  hos 
tilities  their  machinery  was  fairly  put  in  motion.  Yet  thoroughly  imbued 
with  a  reverence  for  the  guaranteed  rights  of  individuals,  I  was  slow  to 


144  LIFE    OF    HORATIO    SEYMOUR. 

and  whereas,  the  said  military  commission  has  sen* 
tenced  him  to  a  punishment  as  yet  unknown,  but  which 
is  to  be  announced  in  some  military  order  promulga 
ted  hereafter,  therefore 

adopt  the  strong  measures  which  by  degrees  I  have  been  forced  to  regard 
as  being  within  the  exceptions  of  the  Constitution,  and  as  indispensable 
to  the  public  safety.  Nothing  is  better  known  to  history  than  that  courts 
of  justice  are  utterly  incompetent  to  such  cases.  Civil  courts  are  organ 
ized  chiefly  for  trials  of  individuals,  or,  at  most,  a  few  individuals  acting 
in  concert,  and  this  in  quiet  times,  and  on  charges  of  crimes  well  defined 
in  the  law.  Even  in  times  of  peace  bands  of  horse  thieves  and  robbers 
frequently  grow  too  numerous  and  powerful  for  the  ordinary  courts  of 
justice.  But  what  comparison  in  numbers  have  such  bands  ever  borne 
to  the  insurgent  sympathizers,  even  in  many  of  the  loyal  States?  Again, 
a  jury  too  frequently  has  at  least  one  member  more  ready  to  hang  the 
panel  than  to  hang  the  traitor.  And  yet,  again,  he  who  dissuades  one 
man  from  volunteering,  or  induces  one  soldier  to  desert,  weakens  the 
Union  cause  as  mnch  as  he  who  kills  a  Union  soldier  in  battle.  Yet 
this  disnasion  or  inducement  may  be  so  conducted  as  to  be  no  defined 
crime  of  which  any  civil  court  would  take  cognizance. 

Ours  is  a  case  of  rebellion — so  called  by  the  resolution  before  me — in 
fact,  a  clear,  flagrant,  and  gigantic  case  of  rebellion ;  and  the  provision 
of  the  Constitution  that  "  the  privilege  of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  shall 
not  be  suspended  unless  when  in  case  of  rebellion  or  invasion  the  public 
safety  may  require  it,"  is  the  provision  which  specially  applies  to  our 
present  case.  This  provision  plainly  attests  the  understanding  of  those 
who  made  the  Constitution  that  ordinary  courts  of  justice  are  inadequate 
to  "capes  of  rebellion1' — attests  their  purpose  that,  in  such  cases,  men 
may  be  held  in  custody  whom  the  courts,  acting  on  ordinary  rules,  would 
discharge.  Habeas  corpus  does  not  discharge  men  who  are  proved  to  be 
guilty  of  defined  crime  ;  and  its  suspension  is  allowed  by  the  Constitution 
on  purpose  that  men  may  be  arrested  and  held  who  cannot  be  proved  to 
be  guilty  of  defined  crime,  "  when,  in  case  of  rebellion  or  invasion,  the 
public  safety  may  require  it."  This  is  precisely  our  present  case — a  case 
of  rebellion,  wherein  the  public  safety  does  require  the  suspension.  In 
deed,  arrests  by  process  of  courts  and  arrests  in  cases  of  rebellion  do  not 
proceed  altogether  upon  the  same  basis.  The  former  is  directed  at  the 
small  percentage  of  ordinary  and  continuous  perpetration  of  crime,  while 
the  latter  is  directed  at  sudden  and  extensive  uprisings  against  the  Gov- 


MILITARY    ARRESTS    DENOUNCED.  145 

"  Resolved,  That  we,  the  citizens  of  the  city  of  New 
York,  here  assembled,  denounce  the  arrest  of  Hon. 
Clement  L.  Yallandigham,  and  his  trial  and  sentence 

ernment,  which,  at  most,  will  succeed  or  fail  in  no  great  length  of  time. 
In  the  latter  case  arrests  are  made  not  so  much  for  what  has  been  done, 
as  for  what  probably  would  be  done.  The  latter  is  more  for  the  preven 
tive  and  less  for  the  vindictive  than  the  former.  In  such  cases  the  pur 
poses  of  men  are  much  more  easily  understood  than  in  cases  of  ordinary 
crime.  The  man  who  stands  by  and  says  nothing  when  the  peril  of  his 
Government  is  discussed  cannot  be  misunderstood.  If  not  hindered,  he 
is  sure  to  help  the  enemy  ;  much  more  if  he  talks  ambiguously — talks  for 
his  country  with  u  buts  "  and  u  ifs"  and  "  amis."  Of  how  little  value 
the  constitutional  provisions  I  have  quoted  will  be  rendered,  if  arrests 
shall  never  be  made  until  defined  crimes  shall  have  been  committed,  may 
be  illustrated  by  a  few  notable  examples.  Gen.  John  0.  Breckinridge, 
Gen.  Robert  E.  Lee,  Gen.  Joseph  E.  Johnston,  Gen.  John  B.  Magruder, 
Gen.  William  B.  Preston,  Gen.  Simon  B.  Buckner,  and  Com.  Franklin 
Buchanan,  now  occupying  the  very  highest  places  in  the  rebel  war  ser 
vice,  were  all  within  the  power  of  the  Government  since  the  rebellion 
began,  and  were  nearly  as  well  known,  to  be  traitors  then  as  now.  Un 
questionably,  if  we  had  seized  and  held  them,  the  insurgent  cause  would 
be  much  weaker.  But  no  one  of  them  had  committed  any  crime  defined 
in  the  law.  Every  one  of  them,  if  arrested,  would  have  been  discharged 
on  habeas  corpus,  were  the  writ  allowed  to  operate.  In  view  of  these 
and  similar  cases,  I  think  the  time  not  unlikely  to  come  when  I  shall  be 
blamed  for  having  made  too  few  arre'sts  rather  than  too  many. 

By  the  third  resolution  the  meeting  indicate  their  opinion  that  mili 
tary  arrests  may  be  constitutional  in  localities  where  rebellion  actually 
exists,  but  that  such  arrests  are  unconstitutional  in  localities  where  rebel 
lion  or  insurrection  does  not  actually  exist.  They  insist  that  such  arrests 
shall  not  be  made  "  outside  of  the  lines  of  necessary  occupation,  and  the 
scenes  of  insurrection."  Inasmuch,  however,  as  the  Constitution  itself 
makes  no  such  distinction,  I  am  unable  to  believe  that  there  is  any  such 
constitutional  distinction.  I  concede  that  the  class  of  arrests  complnined 
of  can  be  constitutional  only  when,  in  cases  of  rebellion  or  invasion,  the 
public  safety  may  require  them  ;  and  I  insist  that  in  such  cases  they  are 
constitutional  wherever  the  public  safety  does  require  them  ;  as  well  in 
places  to  which  they  may  prevent  the  rebellion,  extending,  as  in  those 
where  it  maybe  already  prevailing ;  as  well where  they  may  restrain 
10 


146  LIFE    OF    HORATIO    SEYMOUR 

by  a  military  commission,  as   a  startling  outrage  upon 
the  hitherto  sacred  rights  of  American  citizenship. 
"  Hesolved,  That  exigencies  of  civil  war  require  the 


mischievous  interference  with  the  raising  and  supplying  of  armies  to  sup 
press  the  rebellion,  as  where  the  rebellion  may  actually  be;  as  well 
where  they  may  restrain  the  enticing  men  out  of  the  army,  as  where 
they  would  prevent  mutiny  in  the  army ;  equally  constitutional  at  all 
places  where  they  will  conduce  to  the  public  safety,  as  against  the  dangers 
of  rebellion  or  invasion.  Take  the  particular  case  mentioned  by  the 
meeting.  It  is  asserted,  in  substance,  that  Mr.  Vallandigham  was,  by  a 
military  commander,  seized  and  tried  "  for  no  other  reason  than  words 
addressed  to  a  public  meeting  in  criticism  of  the  course  of  the  Adminis 
tration,  and  in  condemnation  of  the  military  orders  of  the  general." 
Now,  if  there  be  no  mistake  about  this ;  if  this  assertion  is  the  truth,  and 
the  whole  truth  ;  if  there  was  no  other  reason  for  the  arrest,  then  I  con 
cede  that  the  arrest  was  wrong.  But  the  arrest,  as  I  understand,  was 
made  for  a  very  different  reason.  Mr.  Vallandigham  avows  his  hostility 
to  the  war  on  the  part  of  the  Union  ;  and  his  arrest  was  made  because 
he  was  laboring,  with  some  effect,  to  prevent  the  raising  of  troops;  to 
encourage  desertion  from  the  army  ;  and  to  leave  the  rebellion  without 
an  adequate  military  force  to  suppress  it.  He  was  not  arrested  because 
he  was  damaging  the  political  prospects  of  the  Administration,  or  the 
personal  interests  of  the  commanding  general,  but  because  he  was  dnmag- 
ing  the  army,  upon  the  existence  and  vigor  of  which  the  life  of  the  na 
tion  depends.  lie  was  warring  upon  the  military,  and  this  gave  the  mil 
itary  constitutional  jurisdiction  to  lay  hands  upon  him.  If  Mr.  Vallan 
digham  was  not  damaging  the  military  power  of  the  country,  then  hia 
arrest  was  made  on  mistake  of  fact,  which  1  would  be  glad  to  correct  on 
reasonable  satisfactory  evidence.  I  understand  the  meeting  whose  res 
olutions  I  am  considering,  to  be  in  favor  of  suppressing  the  rebellion  by 
military  force — by  armies.  Long  experience  has  shown  that  armies  can 
not  be  maintained  unless  desertion  shall  be  punished  by  the  severe  pen 
alty  of  death.  The  case  requires,  and  the  law  and  the  Constitution  sanc 
tion,  this  punishment.  Must  I  shoot  a  simple-minded  soldier-boy  who 
deserts,  while  I  must  not  touch  a  hair  of  a  wily  agitator  wlio  induces  him 
to  desert?  This  is  none  the  less  injurious  when  effected  by  getting  a 
father,  a  brother,  or  friend,  into  a  public  meeting,  and  there  working 
upon  his  feelings  until  he  is  persuaded  to  write  the  soldier-boy  that  he  is 
fighting  in  a  bad  cause,  for  a  wicked  Administration  of  a  contemptible 


MILITARY    ARRESTS    DENOUNCED.  147 

fullest  and  freest  discussion  of  public  questions  by  the 
American  people,  to  the  end  that  their  temporary 
public  servants  may  not  forget  that  they  are  the  crea- 

Government,  too  weak  to  arrest  and  punish  him  if  he  shall  desert.  I 
think  that  in  such  a  c;ise,  to  silence  the  agitator  and  to  save  the  boy,  is 
not  only  constitutional,  but  withal  a  great  mercy. 

If  I  be  wrong  on  this  question  of  constitutional  power,  my  error  lies 
in  believing  that  certain  proceedings  are  constitutional  when,  in  cases  of 
rebellion  or  invasion,  the  public  saftty  requires  them,  which  would  not 
be  constitutional  when,  in  absence  of  rebellion  or  invasion,  the  public 
safety  does  n  *t  require  them;  in  other  words,  that  the  Constitution  is 
not,  in  its  application,  in  all  respects  the  same,  in  cases  of  rebellion  or  in 
vasion  involving  the  public  safety,  as  it  is  in  times  of  profound  peace  and 
public  security.  The  Constitution  itself  makes  the  distinction ;  and  I  can 
no  more  be  persuaded  that  the  Government  can  constitutionally  take  no 
strong  measures  in  time  of  rebellion,  because  it  can  be  shown  that  the 
same  could  not  be  lawful'y  taken  in  time  of  peace,  than  I  can  be  per 
suaded  that  a  particular  drug  is  not  good  medicine  for  a  sick  man,  because 
it  can  be  shown  not  to  be  good  food  for  a  well  one.  Nor  am  1  able  to 
appreciate  the  danger  apprehended  by  the  meeting  that  the  American 
people  will,  by  means  of  military  arrests  during  the  rebellion,  lose  the 
ri^ht  of  public  discussion,  the  liberty  of  speech  and  the  press,  the  law  of 
evidence,  trial  by  jury,  and  habeas  corpus,  throughout  the  indefinite 
peaceful  future  which  I  trust  lies  before  them,  any  more  then  I  am  able 
to  believe  that  a  man  could  contract  so  strong  an  appetite  for  emetics 
during  temporary  illness,  as  to  persist  in  feeding  upon  them  during  the 
remainder  of  his  healthful  life. 

In  giving  the  resolutions  that  earnest  consideration  which  you  request 
of  me,  I  cannot  overlook  the  fact  that  the  meeting  speak  as  "  Democrats." 
Nor  can  I,  with  full  respect  for  their  known  intelligence,  and  the  fairly 
presumed  deliberation  with  which  they  prepared  their  resolutions,  be 
permitted  to  suppose  that  this  occurred  by  accident,  or  in  any  way  other 
than  that  they  preferred  to  designate  themselves  "Democrats  "  rather 
than  "American  citizens."  In  this  time  of  national  peril,  I  would  have 
preferred  to  meet  you  upon  a  level  one  step  higher  than  any  party  plat 
form  ;  because  I  am  sure  that,  from  such  more  elevated  position,  we  could 
do  better  battle  for  the  country  we  all  love  than  we  possibly  can  from 
those  lower  ones  where,  from  the  force  of  habit,  the  prejudices  of  the 
past,  and  selfish  hopes  of  the  future,  we  are  sure  to  expend  much  of  our 


148  LIFE    OF    HORATIO    SEYMOUR. 

tures  of  the  public  will,  and  must  respect  the  obliga 
tions  and  duties  imposed  upon  them  by  the  Constitu 
tion  of  their  country,  which  is  the  authentic,  solemn 

ingenuity  and  strength  in  finding  fault  with  and  aiming  blows  at  each 
other.  But,  since  you  have  denied  me  this,  I  will  yet  be  thankful,  for 
the  country's  sake,  that  not  all  Democrats  have  done  so.  He  on  whose 
discretionary  judgment  Mr.  Vallandigham  was  arrested  and  tried  is  a 
Democrat,  having  no  old  party  affinity  with  me;  and  the  judge  who  re 
jected  the  constitutional  view  expressed  in  these  resolutions,  by  refusing 
to  discharge  Mr.  Vallandigham  on  habeas  corpus,  is  a  Democrat  of  better 
days  than  these,  having  received  his  judicial  mantle  at  the  hands  of  Pres 
ident  Jackson.  And  still  more,  of  all  those  Democrats  who  are  nobly 
exposing  their  lives  and  shedding  their  blood  on  the  battle-field,  I  have 
learned  that  many  approve  the  course  taken  with  Mr.  Vallandigham, 
while  I  have  not  heard  of  a  single  one  condemning  it.  I  can  assert  that 
there  are  none  such.  And  the  name  of  President  Jackson  recalls  an  in 
cident  of  perrinent  history.  After  the  battle  of  New  Orleans,  and  while 
the  fact  that  the  treaty  of  peace  had  been  concluded  was  well  known  in 
the  city,  but  before  official  knowledge  of  it  had  arrived,  Gen.  Jackson 
still  maintained  martial  or  military  law.  Now  that  it  could  be  said  the 
war  was  over,  the  clamor  against  martial  law,  which  had  existed  from 
the  first,  grew  more  furious.  Among  other  things,  a  Mr.  Louaillier  pub 
lished  a  denunciatory  newspaper  article.  Gen.  Jackson  arrested  him. 
A  lawyer,  by  the  name  of  Morel,  procured  the  United  States  Judge  (Hall) 
to  order  a  writ  of  habeas  corpus  to  relieve  Mr.  Lonaillier.  Gen.  J;ickson 
arrested  both  the  lawyer  and  the  Judge.  A  Mr.  Hollander  ventured  to 
say  of  some  part  of  the  matter  that  "  it  was  a  dirty  trick."  Gen.  Jackson 
arrested  him.  When  the  officer  undertook  to  serve  the  writ  of  habeas 
corpus,  Gen.  Jackson  took  it  from  him,  and  sent  him  away  with  a  copy. 
Holding  the  Judge  in  custody  a  few  days,  the  General  sent  him  beyond 
the  limits  of  his  encampment,  and  set  him  at  liberty,  with  an  order  to  re 
main  till  the  ratification  of  peace  should  be  regularly  announced,  or  until 
the  British  should  have  left  the  Southern  coast.  A  day  or  two  more 
'•lapsed,  the  ratification  of  the  treaty  of  peace  was  regularly  announced, 
and  the  Judge  and  others  were  fully  liberated.  A  few  days  more,  and 
the  Judge  called  Gen.  Jackson  into  court  and  fined  him  a  thousand  dol 
lars  for  having  arrested  him  and  the  others  named.  The  General  paid 
the  fine,  snd  there  the  matter  rested  fur  nearly  thirty  years,  when  Con 
gress  refunded  principal  and  interest.  The  late  Senator  Douglas,  then  in 


RESOLUTIONS   ADOPTED.  149 

expression  of  that  will ;  and  that  whenever,  upon  the 
orders  of  military  commanders,  and  from  fear  of 
their  spies  and  informers,  American  citizens  not  in  the 


the  House  of  Representatives,  took  a  leading  part  in  the  debates,  in  which 
the  constitutional  que-tion  was  much  discussed.  I  am  not  prepared  to 
say  whom  the  journals  would  show  to  have  voted  for  the  measure. 

It  m;iy  be  remarked  :  First,  that  we  had  the  same  Constitution  then 
as  now  ;  secondly,  that  we  then  had  a  case  of  invasion,  anil  now  we  have 
a  case  of  rebellion  ;  and,  thirdly,  that  the  permanent  right  of  the  people 
to  public  discussion,  the  liberty  of  speech  and  of  the  press,  the  tri.il  by 
jury,  the  law  of  evidence,  and  the  habeas  corpus  suffered  no  detriment 
whatever' by  that  conduct  of  Gen.  Jackson,  or  its  subsequent  approval  by 
the  American  Congress. 

And  yet,  let  me  say,  that,  in  my  own  discretion,  I  do  not  know 
whether  I  would  have  ordered  the  arrest  of  Mr.  Valhmdigham.  While  I 
cannot  shit  ihe  repp,  nsibility  from  myself,  I  hold  that,  as  a  general  rule, 
the  commander  in  the  field  is  the  better  judge  of  the  necessity  in  any 
particular  case.  Of  course  I  must  practise  a  general  directory  and  re 
visory  power  in  the  matter. 

One  of  the  resolutions  expresses  the  opinion  of  the  meeting  that  ar 
bitrary  arrests  will  have  the  effect  to  divide  and  distract  those  who  should 
be  united  in  suppressing  the  rebellion,  and  I  am  specially  called  on  to 
discharge  Mr.  Vallandigham.  I  regard  this  act  as  at  least  a  fair  fippeal 
to  rne  on  the  expediency  of  exercising  a  constitutional  power  which  I 
think  exists.  In  response  to  such  appeal,  I  have  to  say  it  gave  me  pain 
when  I  learned  that  Mr.  Vallnndiglmm  had  been  arrested — that  is,  I  was 
pained  that  there  should  have  seemed  to  be  a  necessity  for  arresting  him 
— and  that  it  will  afford  me  great  pleasure  to  discharge  him  so  soon  .MS  I 
can,  by  any  means,  believe  the  public  safety  will  not  suffer  by  it.  I 
further  say  that,  as  the  war  pro^ires-'es,  it  appears  to  me  that  opinion  and 
action,  which  were  in  great  confusion  at  first,  take  shape  and  fall  into 
more  regular  channels,  so  that  the  nece-sity  for  strong  dealing  with  them 
gradually  decreases.  1  have  every  reason  to  desire  that  it  should  cense 
altogether,  and  far  from  the  least  is  my  regard  for  the  opinions  and 
wishes  of  those  who,  like  the  meeting  at  Albany,  declare  their  purpose 
to  sustain  the  Government  in  every  constitutional  and  lawful  measure  tc 
suppress  the  rebellion.  Still  I  must  continue  to  do  so  much  as  may  seera 
to  be  required  by  the  public  safety. 

A.  LINCOLN. 


150  LIFE    OF   HORATIO   SEYMOUR. 

military  service  shall  be  denied  the  right  to  approve  or 
disapprove  measures  of  public  policy,  to  denounce  or 
applaud  the  Commander-in-Chief,  and  to  advocate 


ALBANY,  June  SQth,  1863. 
To  his  Excellency  the  President  of  the  United  States  : 

SIB  :  The  undersigned,  officers  of  the  public  meeting  held  in  this  city 
on  the  16th  day  of  May  last,  to  whom  your  communication  of  the  12th 
of  tliis  month,  commenting  on  the  resolutions  adopted  at  that  meeting, 
was  addressed,  have  the  honor  to  send  to  your  Excellency  a  reply  to  that 
communication  by  the  committee  who  reported  the  resolutions.  The 
great  importance  to  the  people  of  this  country  of  the  questions  discu.-sed, 
must  be  our  apology,  if  any  be  needed,  for  sayinir,  that  we  fully  concur 
in  this  reply,  and  believe  it  to  be  in  entire  harmony  with  the  views  and 
sentiments  of  the  meeting  referred  to. 

We  are,  with  great  respect,  very  truly  yours, 

EKASTUS  CORNING,  President. 

The  following  extracts  from  the  reply  of  the  committee  contain  the 
points  presented  in  that  document : 

The  fact  has  already  passed  into  history  that  the  sacred  rights  and 
immunities  which  were  designed  to  be  protected  by  these  constitutional 
guarantees,  have  not  been  preserved  to  the  people  during  your  Adminis 
tration.  In  violation  of  the  first  of  them,  the  freedom  of  the  press  has 
been  denied.  In  repeated  instances  newspapers  have  been  suppressed  in 
the  loyal  States,  because  they  criticized,  as  constitutionally  they  might, 
those  f.itiil  errors  of  policy  which  have  characterized  the  conduct  of 
public  affairs  since  your  advent  to  power.  In  violation  of  the  second  of 
them,  hundreds,  and  we  believe,  thousands  of  men,  have  been  seized  and 
immured  in  prisons  and  bastiles,  not  only  without  warrant  upon  proba 
ble  cause,  but  without  any  warrant,  and  for  no  other  cause  than  a  con 
stitutional  exercise  of  freedom  of  speech.  In  violation  of  all  the-e  guar 
antees,  a  distinguished  citizen  of  a  peaceful  and  loyal  State  has  been  torn 
from  his  home  at  midnight  by  a  band  of  soldiers,  acting  under  the  orders 
of  one  of  your  generals,  tried  before  a  military  commis-ion,  without 
jud^e  or  jury,  convicted  and  sentenced  without  even  the  suggestion  of 
any  offence  known  to  the  Constitution  or  laws  of  this  country.  For  all 
these  acts  you  avow  yourself  ultimately  responsible.  In  the  special  case 
of  Mr.  Vallandigham,  the  injustice  commenced  by  your  subordinate  was 
consummated  by  a  sentence  of  exile  from  his  home,  pronounced  by  you. 


RESOLUTIONS    ADOPTED.  151 

peace  or  war,  as  their  judgments  may  dictate,  they 
have  ceased  to  be  freemen  and  have  already  become 
slaves. 


That  great  wrong,  more  than  any  other  which  preceded  it,  asserts  the 
principles  of  a  supreme  despotism. 

These  repeated  and  c  >ntinued  invasions  of  constitutional  liberty  and 
private  right,  have  occasioned  profound  anxiety  in  the  public  mind.  The 
apprehension  and  alarm  which  they  are  calculated  to  produce,  have  been 
grea'ly  enhanced  by  your  attempt  to  justify  them,  because  in  that  at 
tempt  you  assume  to  yourself  a  rightful  authority  possessed  by  no  con 
stitutional  monarch  on  earth.  We  accept  the  declaration  that  you  prefer 
to  exercise  this  authority  with  a  moderation  not  hitherto  exhibited. 
But,  believing,  as  we  do,  that  your  forbearance  is  not  the  tenure  by 
which  liberty  is  enjoyed  in  this  country,  we  propose  to  challenge  the 
grounds  on  which  your  claim  of  supreme  power  is  based.  "While  yield 
ing  to  you  as  a  constitutional  magistrate  the  deference  to  which,  you  are 
entitled,  we  cannot  accord  to  you  the  despotic  power  you  claim,  however 
indulgent  and  gracious  you  may  promise  to  be  in  wielding  it. 

"We  have  carefully  considered  the  grounds  on  which  your  pretensions 
to  more  than  regal  authority  are  claimed  to  re?-t;  and  if  we  do  not  mis 
interpret  the  misty  and  cloudy  forms  of  expression  in  which  those  pre 
tensions  are  set  forth,  your  meaning  is,  that  while  the  righls  of  the  citi 
zens  are  protected  by  the  Constitution  in  time  of  peace,  they  are  sus 
pended  or  lost  in  time  of  war,  when  invasion  or  rebellion  exists.  You 
do  not,  like  many  others  in  who>e  minds  reason  and  the  love  of  regulated 
liberty  seem  to  be  overthrown  by  the  excitements  of  the  hour,  attempt 
to  base  this  conclusion  upon  a  supposed  military  necessity  existing  outside 
of,  and  transcending  the  Constitution,  a  military  necessity  behind  which 
the  Constitution  itself  disappears  in  a  total  eclipse.  We  do  not  find  this 
gigantic  and  monstrous  heresy  put  forth  in  your  plea  for  absolute  power, 
but  we  do  find  another  equally  subversive  of  liberty  and  law,  and  quite 
as  certainly  tending  to  the  establishment  of  despotism.  You  claim  to 
have  found,  not  outside,  but  within  the  Constitution,  a  principle  or  germ 
of  arbitrary  power,  which  in  time  of  war  expands  at  once  into  an  abso 
lute  sovereignty,  wielded  by  one  man ;  so  that  liberty  perishes,  or  is  de 
pendent  on  his  will,  his  discretion,  or  his  caprice.  This  extraordinary 
doctrine  you  claim  to  derive  wholly  from  that  clause  of  the  Constitution 
which  in  ca-e  of  invasion  or  rebel! on,  permits  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus 
to  be  suspended.  Upon  tins  ground  your  whole  argument  is  based. 


152  LIFE   OF    HORATIO    SEYMOUR. 

i 

u  Resolved,  That  we  reverently  cherish,  that  great 
body  of  constitutions,  laws,  precedents,  and  traditions 
which  constitute  us  a  free  people,  and  that  we  hold 
those  who  designedly  and  persistently  violate  them 
as  public  enemies. 

"  Resolved,  That  we  are  devotedly  attached  to  the 
Union  of  these  States,  and  can  see  nothing  but  calam 
ity  and  weakness  in  its  disruption,  and  shall  continue 
to  advocate  whatever  policy  we  believe  will  result  in 
the  restoration  of  that  Union. 

"  Hesolved,  That  at  a  time  when  our  fellow-citizens 
are  falling  by  thousands  upon  the  battle-field,  and  hu 
man  carnage  has  become  familiar,  we  implore  the 
Federal  authorities  not  to  adopt  the  fatal  error  that  a 
system  of  imprisonment  and  /terrorism  will  subjugate 
the  minds  arid  stifle  the  voices  of  the  American  peo 
ple. 

"  Resolved,  That  we  call  upon  the  Governor  of  the 
State  of  New  York  and  all  others  in  authority,  as  they 
value  organized  society  and  stable  institutions,  to  save 
us  from  the  humiliation  and  peril  of  the  arrest  and 
trial  before  Military  Commissions  of  citizens  whose 
only  crime  shall  be  the  exercise  of  a  right  without 
which  life  is  intolerable  and  republican  citizenship  a 
false  name  and  a  false  pretence. 

"  Resolved,  That  the  refusal  of  the  Judge  of  the 
district  within  which  the  Hon.  C.  L.  Vallandigham  is 
incarcerated  to  grant  a  writ  of  habeas  corpus,  is  itself 
a  nullification  of  the  Constitution  and  an  infamous 
outrage  upon  the  clearly  denned  rights  of  the  citizen. 

"  Resolved,  That  we  fully  and  heartily  endorse  the 


PUBLIC    MEETING    AT    TROY.  153 

language  of  our  noble  and  patriotic  Governor,  address 
ed  to  the  meeting  assembled  at  Albany  on  Saturday, 
the  16th  inst.,  that  the  arbitrary  arrest  and  imprison 
ment  of  Mr.  Vallandigham.  is  "  an  act  which  has 
brought  dishonor  on  our  country,  which  is  full  of  dan 
ger  to  our  persons  and  homes,  and  which  bears  upon 
its  front  a  conscious  violation  of  law  and  justice." 

"  JResolved,  That  while  fully  and  heartily  endors 
ing  the  manly  and  outspoken  sentiments  of  the  Gov 
ernor  of  New  York,  we  shall  do  all  in  our  power  to 
sustain  him  in  his  determination  to  preserve  inviolate 
the  sovereignty  of  our  State  and  the  rights  of  its 
people  against  Federal  encroachments  and  usurpations." 

At  a  meeting  held  in  Troy — the  largest  ever  seen 
in  that  city,  and  made  all  the  more  important  by  the 
fact  that  it  was  officered  and  attended  to  a  considerable 
extent  by  gentlemen  who  had  never  before  acted  with 
the  Democratic  party- — the  following  resolution,  en 
dorsing  the  Governor,  was  adopted: 

"  Resol/oed,  That  we  fully  and  heartily  endorse  the 
language  of  our  noble  and  truly  patriotic  Governor, 
addressed  to  the  meeting  assembled  at  Albany,  on  Sat 
urday,  the  16th  inst,  that  the  arbitrary  arrest  and  im 
prisonment  of  Mr.  Vallandigham  is  i  an  act  which  has 
brought  dishonor  upon  our  country,  which  is  full  of 
danger  to  our  persons  and  homes,  and  which  bears 
upon  its  front  a  conscious  violation  of  law  and  justice.1" 

The  New  York  resolutions  given  above  were  unani 
mously  readopted. 

Similar  meetings  were  held,  and  resolutions  of  a 
like  character  adopted,  all  over  the  State. 


154  LIFE    OP   HORATIO   SEYMOUR. 

The  election  for  State  officers  and  members  of  the 
Legislature  was  held  in  November.  On  the  30th  of 

o 

October,  a  large  and  enthusiastic  Democratic  meeting 
was  held  at  Syracuse,  at  which  several  gentlemen  acted 
as  Vice- Presidents  who  had  voted  for  Mr.  Lincoln  for 
President,  and  for  Gen.  Wadsworth  for  Governor,  the 
year  before.  Governor  Seymour  addressed  the  meet- 
ing  at  considerable  length.  We  make  the  following- 
extra  cts  from  his  speech : 

"  One  year  ago  we  were  a  people  united  in  pur 
pose — to-day  we  are  distracted  and  paralyzed.  Why  ? 
To-day  the  South,  which  was  then  ready  to  fall  to 
pieces,  is  united,  and  apparently  as  strong  as  ever. 
Why  ?  That  party  most  endangers  the  public  welfare 
which  not  only  refuses  to  use  every  influence  that  can 
be  brought  to  bear,  but  opposes  obstacles  in  the  way 
of  a  successful  completion  of  the  contest  in  which  we 
are  engaged.  That  man  who,  not  content  with  restor 
ing  the  Union  and  upholding  the  Constitution,  adds 
further  objects  more  difficult  of  attainment,  hinders 
the  success  of  the  war.  I  appeal  to  you,  men  of  On- 
ondaga,  men  of  Central  New  York,  if  they  are  not 
making  success  more  difficult,  more  unattainable,  if  in 
any  event  they  are  not  postponing  the  end,  until  you 
are  brought  nearer  and  nearer  those  calamities  which 
lie  straight  in  our  pathway — national  bankruptcy  and 
national  ruin.  They  say  we  must  fight  until  slavery  is 
extinguished ;  they  say  we  must  fight  until  the  States 
shall  assume  new  relationships  to  the  Federal  Govern 
ment — until  it  becomes  revolutionary  in  its  aspects  and 
influences.  We  are  to  unsettle  what  eighty  years  of 


SPEECH   AT    SYCRAUSE.  155 

experience  had  settled ;  we  are  to  upturn  the  founda 
tions  of  our  Constitution.  At  this  very  moment,  when 
the  fate  of  the  nation  and  of  individuals  trembles  in 
the  balance,  these  madmen  ask  us  to  plunge  into  a 
bottomless  pit  of  controversy  upon  indefinite  purposes. 
Does  not  every  man  know  that  we  must  have  a  united 
North  to  triumph  ?  Can  we  get  a  united  North  upon 
a  theory  that  proposes  to  centralize  the  power  of  the 
General  Government  upon  propositions  that  you  shall 
not  have  the  great  right  and  liberty  of  protecting  your 
own  person  ?  that  the  Constitution  can  be  set  aside  at 
the  will  of  one  man,  because,  forsooth,  he  judges  it  to 
be  a  military  necessity  ?  [c  No,  no.1]  I  never  heard 
yet  that  Abraham  Lincoln  was  a  military  necessity. 
[Great  laughter.]  If  military  necessities  are  to  gov 
ern,  let  us  at  least  be  consistent,  and  ask  that  military 
men  shall  judge  what  these  necessities  are — men  who 
can  marshal  armies  in  the  field  and  fight  great  battles. 
The  very  proposition  disfranchises  you.  If  you  assent 
to  it,  you  men  of  Central  New  York,  give  up  your 
Constitutional  right  to  your  own  judgment. 

"  Now  I  propose  to  inquire,  What  has  taken  place 
since  I  stood  here  one  year  ago  ?  What  were  the  cir 
cumstances  of  our  country  then?  At  that  moment 
the  people  of  the  United  States  had  given,  voluntarily, 
under  the  calls  of  our  Government,  six  hundred  thou 
sand  men  to  swell  the  ranks  of  your  armies.  Before 
that  time  our  political  opponents,  through  their  jour 
nals  and  speakers,  had  said  that  the  Administration 
had  failed  in  the  conduct  of  the  war.  Therefore  it  was 
that  at  the  last  November  election,  when  you  did  me 


156  LIFE    OF    HORATIO    SEYMOUR. 

the  honor  to  place  me  in  the  Gubernatorial  chair,  you 
decided  that  they  had  failed  in  meeting  the  just  expec 
tations  of  the  American  people.  You  gave  them  600,- 
000  more,  600,000  living  men — somebody's  sons,  some 
body's  brothers,  somebody's  husbands.  They  went 
from  the  homes  of  our  land ;  they  constituted  the 
wealth  and  power  of  the  nation.  Where  are  they? 
What  has  been  done  ?  Is  our  country  saved?  Is  the 
war  terminated?  To-day,  when  we  ought  to  rejoice  at 
the  full  completion  of  our  heart's  desire,  we  are  met — 
not  by  assurances  that  peace  is  restored  to  our  land, 
not  by  the  fact  that  rebellion  is  put  down ;  no,  my 
friends,  we  are  met  by  another  call  for  600,000  men. 
This  moment  everywhere  our  armies  are  on  the  de 
fensive.  The  question  to-day  is — not  'What  are  we 
doing  ? '  but  '  What  are  the  enemy  doing  ? '  The  ques 
tion  is — not  4  Where  do  our  Generals  attack  ? '  but 
4  Where  are  we  threatened  ? '  Look  at  the  Potomac. 
Look  at  the  Cumberland  and  Tennessee.  Notwith 
standing  the  vast  contributions  of  blood,  and  men,  and 
treasure,  to-day  we  are  called  upon  to  furnish  600,000 
more,  including  the  number  embraced  under  the  Con 
scription  act,  and  you,  the  people  of  New  York,  to-day 
are  called  upon  to  furnish  108,000  men  before  the  5th 
of  January  next.  Now,  there  are  some  things  about 
which  there  is  no  difference  of  opinion  among  candid 
men  of  all  parties. 

u  It  is  agreed  that  there  is  a  limit  in  the  expendi 
ture  of  money  when  the  nation  must  be  whelmed  in 
national  bankruptcy,  and  that  there  is  a  limit  in  the 
prosecution  of  the  war  when  the  nation  will  go  to  ruin. 


SPEECH    AT    SYRACUSE.  157 

Every  day's  expenditure  of  life  and  money  brings  us 
nearer  to  these  calamities.  We  agree  that  the  war 
must  be  brought  to  the  speediest  possible  honorable 
conclusion.  Now,  which  of  the  two  parties  asking 
your  support  is  the  one  most  likely  to  reach  this  result 
before  we  reach  national  bankruptcy,  ruin,  and  dis 
grace?  Let  the  past  go.  We  will  leave  it  to  the 
judgment  of  the  future  to  say  who  has  been  right  and 
who  has  been  wrong.  Let  us  now  confront  the  duties 
of  the  hour  boldly  and  patriotically.  We  are  to  de 
cide  by  our  votes  what  shall  be  the  future  policy  of  the 
Government,  for  I  tell  you  the  voice  of  New  York  will 
be  potential  in  the  end.  If  the  people  of  this  State 
shall  decide  in  favor  of  the  radical  policy,  which  is  to 
prolong  the  war  for  indefinite  issues,  we  are  lost  for 
ever.  On  the  contrary,  if  the  people  of  this  State 
decide  in  favor  of  a  policy  which  can  be  reached  and 
which  will  bring  the  war  to  a  successful  conclusion, 
there  is  yet  a  glorious  future  for  our  land.  Where  do 
the  two  parties  differ?  The  Republicans  say,  'We 
want  to  put  forth  all  the  material  powers  of  our  land 
to  bring  the  war  to  a  close.1  We  say  so,  too.  We  are 
upon  the  brink  of  a  cataract,  without  time  to  inquire 
into  the  past ;  we  must  put  forth  every  material  power 
to  secure  success  to  our  cause.  But  we  say  more  than 
that ;  we  say  that  we  will  add  to  the  power  of  force 
the  influences  of  wise  statesmanship,  of  conciliation, 
of  Christian  charity,  of  patriotic  purpose.  [Cheers.] 

"  The  draft  has  been  the  first  great  attempt  to  ex 
ercise  this  power,  and  it  has  miserably  failed.  Instead 
of  strengthening  the  Government,  it  has  immeasurably 


158  LIFE    OF   HORATIO    SEYMOUR. 

weakened  it.  I  do  not  fear  for  the  States,  but  for  the 
Federal  Government.  The  great  State  of  New  York 
can  maintain  her  rights  when  the  little  men  who  insult 
her  are  passed  away  and  forgotten.  [Great  cheering.] 
You  remember  how  gloriously  the  State  responded  to 
the  calls  for  volunteers.  Our  rulers,  when  they  saw 
the  mighty  armies  they  had  marshalled,  thought  it  had 
been  done  by  their  own  power,  instead  of  by  the  spon 
taneous  patriotism  of  the  people.  They  said  we  will 
pass  around  the  hat  no  more  when  we  want  men  or 
money,  but  we  will  pass  a  law  and  send  out  force,  so 
that  when  we  want  men  we  will  take  them  out  of  the 
houses  of  the  nation  by  compulsion.  New  York  sent 
out  of  itself  one  hundred  and  twenty  thousand  volun 
teers.  Now  look  at  the  result  of  the  draft  for  sixty- 
eight  thousand  men.  They  gave  you  credit  under  that 
draft  for  twenty-one  thousand  men.  How  is  this 
twenty-one  thousand  made  up  ?  Well,  you  are  valued 
as  being  worth  about  three  hundred  dollars  apiece,  and 
of  these  twenty-one  thousand  men  which  have  been 
rendered,  twelve  or  thirteen  thousand  are  three  hun 
dred  dollar  bills— not  men  of  muscles  and  sinews  ready 
to  do  service ;  and  that  act  has  not  sent  out  from  this 
State  eight  thousand  men.  I  do  not  believe  it  has 
more  than  six  thousand,  and  more  than  half  of  these 
are  substitutes,  which  is  another  name  for  volunteers. 
So  much  for  the  centralization  policy. 

"  You  are  to  decide  the  most  momentous  questions 
ever  submitted  to  a  people ;  questions  that  come  home 
to  each  man  of  you  in  all  the  relationships  of  life. 
The  mighty  debt  that  is  being  rolled  up  is  an  encum- 


MEETING   OF   THE    LEGISLATURE.  159 

brance  upon  your  property,  and  now  equals  one  fourth 
of  the  value  of  the  whole  property  of  the  country. 
So  far  as  it  is  necessary  to  spend  for  proper  purposes, 
let  it  be  poured  forth ;  but  if  it  is  to  gratify  the  theo 
ries  of  fanatics  and  bigoted  men,  we  should  express 
our  disapproval  of  those  theories  that  are  mortgaging 
our  lands.  We  are  willing  to  sustain  them  in  all  con 
stitutional  purposes ;  we  dedicate  ourselves  and  all  we 
have  to  the  preservation  of  our  country  ;  but  when 
they  ask  of  us  sacrifices  for  the  purpose  of  trampling 
down  the  Constitution  and  destroying  the  great  princi 
ples  of  liberty,  then  we  must  at  least  have  the  poor 
privilege  of  raising  our  voices  in  terms  of  expostula 
tion  against  a  policy  so  fatal  and  ruinous.  We  love 
that  flag  [pointing  to  the  stars  and  stripes]  with  the 
whole  love  cf  our  life ;  and  every  star  that  glitters  on 
its  blue  field  is  sacred.  And  let  me  conclude  with  the 
sentiment  of  a  citizen  of  another  State,  declaring  that 
we  will  preserve  the  Constitution.  We  will  preserve 
the  Union ;  we  will  preserve  our  flag,  with  every  star 
that  glitters  upon  it,  and  we  will  see  to  it  that  there  is 
a  State  for  every  star."  [Continued  cheering.] 

The  meeting  then  adjourned,  and  Gov.  Seymour, 
arriving  again  at  the  hotel,  shook  hands  and  con 
versed  with  citizens  and  friends  until  the  hour  for 
dinner. 

The  Legislature  met  at  Albany  on  the  5th  of 
January,  1864.  The  Governor's  Message  was  sent  in 
on  the  same  day.  .After  dealing  with  matters  relat 
ing  purely  to  the  State,  such  as  the  common  schools, 
the  prisons,  banks,  finances,  trade,  canal,  immigra- 


160  LIFE    OF   HORATIO   SEYMOUR. 

tion,  and  the  Constitutional  amendment,  the  Gover 
nor  proceeded  to  speak  of  the  draft.  He  said : 

u  Congress,  at  its  last  session,  passed  an  act  for 
drafting  citizens  into  the  army.  It  wrought  a  change 
in  the  public  feeling  with  regard  to  military  service, 
and  all,  without  respect  to  political  views,  tried  to 
evade  its  operations.  It  has  proved  injurious  to  the 
civil,  industrial,  and  military  interests  of  the  country. 

"  I  called  the  attention  of  the  President  of  the 
United  States  to  the  inequality  in  the  enrolment. 
The  wrong  was  partially  corrected  by  reducing  the 
numbers  called  for  in  those  districts  where  they  were 
excessive,  to  the  average  number  in  the  other  districts 
of  the  State.  New  York  is  required  to  furnish  more 
than  other  States  in  proportion  to  its  population." 

The  Governor  then  submitted  a  statement  which  we 
have  already  given  in  another  chapter,  showing  the 
truth  of  his  assertion.  He  then  related  the  action  of 
the  War  Department,  and  gave  the  result  of  the  volun 
teering  which  had  been  going  on  in  the  State  during 
the  past  year,  with  great  success.  He  declared  the  draft 
a  failure.  Said  he : 

"It  not  only  fails  to  fill  our  armies,  but  it  pro 
duces  discontent  in  the  service ;  it  is  opposed  to  the 
genius  of  our  political  system  ;  it  alienates  our  people 
from  the  Government ;  it'  is  injurious  to  the  indus 
trial  pursuits  of  the  country. 

"  The  difficulty  in  getting  recruits  is  owing  in  part 
to  the  exhausting  demands  which  have  been  made 
for  that  purpose.  But  it  is  also  owing  to  other  reasons; 
and  among  them  attempted  coercion  is  foremost.  Con- 


THE  GOVERNOR'S  MESSAGE.  161 

gress  attempted  to  keep  up  the  number  of  men  in 
the  field  without  regard  to  State  or  local  Govern 
ment,  and  it  set  aside  those  numerous  minor  local  or 
ganizations,  whose  united  contributions  of  men  have 
made  up  our  vast  armies.  By  efforts  to  make  itself 
independent  of  popular  and  local  influences,  the  Gen 
eral  Government  impaired  its  power  to  get  recruits. " 
He  argued  that  as  long  as  the  people  and  Gov- 
enment  are  financially  prosperous,  recruits  ought  to 
be  raised  by  bounties,  and  not  by  coercion,  and  dem 
onstrated  that  the  system  inaugurated  by  the  Fede 
ral  Government  was  extravagant,  unpopular,  and  cal 
culated  to  do  great  injury  to  the  cause  and  to  the 
morale  of  the  army,  He  said  that  the  army  should 
not  be  allowed  to  run  down  until  it  was  inefficient, 
and  then  be  refilled  by  a  violent  and  revolting  ef 
fort.  Recruiting  should  go  on  all  the  time,  with  such 
reasonable  bounties  as  would  draw  volunteers.  The 
militia  of  the  States  should  be  kept  up  to  an  efficient 
standard  at  all  times,  and  would  thus  constitute  a 
reserve  force,  ready  for  any  emergency.  Had  this 
been  done  in  the  past,  Ohio  and  Pennsylvania  would 
not  have  been  invaded,  nor  would  New  York  be  then 
insulted  by  threatening  attacks  upon  her  border  cities 
and  towns.  The  sympathy  which  ought  to  exist  be 
tween  the  army  and  people,  ought  to  be  fostered  by 
the  Government.  The  armies  should  feel  that  they  are 
upholding  a  just,  paternal  Government,  which  respects 
their  personal  rights,  the  happiness  of  their  families, 
the  sanctity  of  their  homes.  Such  a  feeling  is  not 
likely  to  exist  in  an  army  of  conscripts,  dragged  from 
11 


162  LIFE    OF   HORATIO    SEYMOUR. 

their  homes  and  forced  into  the  service  against  their 
will. 

The  Governor  related  the  incidents  connected  with 
the  call  for  aid  from  Pennsylvania,  and  the  sending  of 
the  militia  to  her  assistance,  and  referred  to  the  draft 
riots  as  follows : 

u  While  the  militia  were  thus  absent  from  the  city, 
and  its  forts  and  harbor  unprotected,  on  Saturday,  the 
llth  day  of  July,  the  draft,  under  the  act  of  the  last 
Congress,  was  commenced  in  one  of  the  wards  of  the 
city.  /  was  not  advised  of  the  step,  and  I  believe  the 
Mayor  of  the  city  was  equally  ignorant  of  the  proceed 
ing.  A  despatch  was  sent  to  me  by  the  Mayor  of  New 
York,  informing  me  of  a  popular  outbreak,  on  Mon 
day  evening,  the  13th  day  of  July,  and  on  the  follow 
ing  morning  T  reached  the  city  and  found  it  agitated 
with  wild  excitement  and  riotous  violence.  The  militia 
were  ordered  to  return  immediately  from  Pennsyl 
vania.  *'_'•*••*:,,*-.:* 

"For  the  purpose  of  legalizing  the  most  extreme 
exertion  of  force  to  put  down  violent  resistance  to  law, 
I  declared  the  city  in  a  state  of  insurrection.  It  was 
divided  into  districts,  which  were  placed  under  the 
control  of  persons  of  influence  or  military  experience, 
who  were  directed  to  organize  the  citizens.  Three 
thousand  stand  of  arms  were  issued  to  these  and  other 
organizations.  I  endeavored  by  these  arrangements  to 
enable  the  police  and  the  military  to  act  against  the 
masses  of  the  rioters,  and  to  relieve  them  from  the  fa 
tigue  of  marching  to  distant  points  to  check  minor  dis 
orders. 


THE  GOVERNOR'S  MESSAGE.  163 

uTo  prevent  the  spread  of  violence,  I  obtained 
from  the  Collector  of  the  port  the  service  of  an  armed 
vessel,  to  traverse  the  rivers  and  bays  in  the  vicinity 
of  New  York,  and  I  also  authorized  the  Police  Com 
missioners  to  charter  another  steamer,  which  could  be 
used  to  carry  policemen  and  soldiers  to  any  point  on 
the  shores  or  islands  where  disturbances  were  threat 
ened  ^  *  *  ^  ^ 

"I  do  not  underrate  the  value  of  the 
services  rendered  by  the  military  and  naval  officers  of 
the  General  Government  who  were  stationed  in  the 
city,  or  those  of  Gen.  Sandford,  for  the  public  are  un 
der  great  obligations  to  them  for  their  courage  and 
prudent  counsels.  But  they  had  at  their  command 
only  a  handful  of  troops,  who  alone  were  entirely  un 
equal  to  the  duty  of  defending  the  vast  amount  of  pub 
lic  property  that  was  endangered.  The  rioters  were 
subdued  by  the  exertions  of  the  city  officials,  civil  and 
military,  the  people,  the  police,  the  firemen,  and  a 
small  body  of  only  twelve  hundred  men,  composed 
equally  of  the  State  and  National  forces." 

The  Governor  then  stated  that,  in  consequence  of 
an  appeal  from  General  Wool,  showing  that  there  was 
not  force  enough  in  his  command  to  properly  garrison 
the  forts  about  the  city,  he  ordered  the  militia  from 
the  interior  of  the  State  to  repair  at  once  to  New  York 
to  man  the  fortifications,  but  that  Gen.  Wool  subse 
quently  requested  him  to  rescind  the  order. 

The  remainder  of  the  message  was  devoted  to  na 
tional  affairs.  The  lawless  and  unprincipled  conduct 
of  the  Administration  was  severely  condemned,  and 


164  LIFE    OF   HORATIO   SEYMOUR. 

the  outrages  practised  upon  citizens  of  the  loyal  States 
denounced  as  revolutionary.  The  issues  of  the  war 
were  discussed  temperately  and  practically.  The  lan 
guage  of  the  message  was  cairn  and  dignified,  and  the 
whole  paper  breathed  forth  an  earnest  devotion  to  the 
Constitution  and  the  Union.  The  Governor  declared 
that  the  war  ought  to  be  waged  only  for  the  restoration 
of  the  Union,  which  Union  ought  to  be  preserved  as  a 
free  Government,  not  as  a  military  despotism.  The 
message  closed  as  follows : 

"  Wise  statesmanship  can  now  bring  this  war  to  a 
close,  upon  the  terms  solemnly  avowed  at  the  outset  of 
the  contest.  Good  faith  to  the  public  creditors ;  to  all 
classes  of  citizens  of  our  country;  to  the  world,  de 
mands  that  this  be  done. 

"The  triumph  won  by  the  soldiers  in  the  field 
should  be  followed  up  and  secured  by  the  peace-making 
policy  of  the  statesmen  in  the  Cabinet.  In  no  other 
way  can  we  save  our  Union. 

"  The  fearful  'struggle  which  has  taught  the  North 
and  South  the  courage,  the  endurance,  and  the  re 
sources  of  our  people,  have  made  a  basis  of  mutual 
respect  upon  which  a  generous  and  magnanimous  pol 
icy  can  build  lasting  relationships  of  union,  intercourse, 
and  fraternal  regard.  If  our  course  is  to  be  shaped 
by  narrow  and  vindictive  passions,  by  venal  purposes, 
or  by  partisan  objects,  then  a  patriotic  people  have 
poured  out  their  blood  "and  treasure  in  vain,  and  the 
future  is  full  of  disaster  and  ruin. 

"  We  should  seek  not  the  disorganization  but  the 
pacification  of  that  section  of  our  country  devastated 


THE  GOVERNOR'S  MESSAGE.  165 

by  civil  war.  In  this  hour  of  triumph  appeals  should 
be  made  to  States,  which  are  identified  with  the  growth 
and  greatness  of  our  country,  and  with  some  of  which 
are  associated  the  patriotic  memories  of  our  revolu 
tionary  struggle.  Every  generous  mind  revolts  at  the 
thought  of  destroying  all  those  memories  that  cling 
about  the  better  days  of  the  Republic  ;  that  are  con 
nected  with  the  sacrifices  of  the  men  who  have  made 
our  history  glorious  by  their  services  in  the  Cabinet,  in 
the  forum  and  in  the  field. 

"  The  victories  which  have  given  our  Government 
its  present  commanding  position  were  won  by  men  who 
rallied  around  and  fought  beneath  the  folds  of  a  flag 
whose  stars  represent  each  State  in  our  Union.  If  we 
strike  out  of  existence  a  single  State,  -we  make  that 
flag  a  falsehood.  When  we  extinguish  the  name  of 
any  one  of  the  original  thirteen  States,  we  dishonor 
the  historic  stripes  of  our  national  banner.  Let  the 
treasonable  task  of  defacing  our  flag  be  left  to  those 
who  war  upon  our  Government,  and  who  would  de 
stroy  the  unity  of  our  country. 

"  Faith  to  our  armies  and  to  our  citizens  demands 
that  we  keep  sacred  the  solemn  pledge  made  to  our 
people  and  to  the  civilized  world  when  we  engaged  in 
this  bloody  war,  c  that  it  was  not  waged  in  any  spirit  of 
oppression,  or  for  any  purpose  of  conquest  or  subjuga 
tion,  or  purpose  of  overthrowing  or  interfering  with 
the  rights  of  established  institutions  in  those  States, 
but  to  defend  and  maintain  the  supremacy  of  the  Con 
stitution  and  to  preserve  the  Union  with  all  the  dignity, 
equality  and  rights  of  the  several  "States  unimpaired ; 

. 


166  LIFE    OP   HORATIO    SEYMOUR. 

and  that  as  soon  as  these  objects  are  accomplished  the 
war  ought  to  cease.1 " 

Early  in  the  year,  the  Legislature  adopted  a  reso 
lution  declaring  that  no  distinction  should  be  made 
between  the  foreign  and  domestic  creditor  in  the  pay 
ment  of  interest  on  the  State  debt.  This  action  of  that 
body  drew  forth  the  following  message  from  the  Gov 
ernor  : 

"  EXECUTIVE  DEPARTMENT,          1 
"Albany,  April  22,  1864.  j 
"  To  the  Legislature  : 

"My  attention  has  been  called  to  a  concurrent 
resolution  which  has  passed  both  branches  of  the  Leg 
islature,  in  the  following  words  : 

"  4  Whereas,  All  the  stocks  issued  by  this  State  were 
made  payable  and  negotiable  in  this  State ;  there 
fore, 

" c  Resolved,  That  no  distinction  should  be  made 
between  the  foreign  and  domestic  holders  of  such  bonds 
as  to  the  currency  in  which  the  principal  and  interest 
thereon  should  be  paid.1 

"  To  the  principle  laid  down  in  this  resolution,  in 
terms,  there  can  be  no  objection  offered.  All  the 
creditors  of  the  State,  whether  they  be  of  our  own 
people  or  foreign,  should  be  alike  paid ;  paid  promptly 
and  in  full  all  that  was  promised  them. 

"  The  Legislature,  last  year,  adopted  a  concurrent 
resolution  on  this  subject  in  the  following  words : 

u  '  Resolved,  That  the  interest  accruing  on  so  much 
of  the  State  debt  on  the  first  day  of  April  as  was,  on 
the  1st  day  of  March,  1863,  held  by  persons  residing 


FINANCIAL    AFFAIRS.  167 

out  of  the  United  States,  and  is  still  held  by  them,  be 
paid  in  gold  or  its  equivalent. ' 

u  And  an  appropriation  was  made  for  the  purchase 
of  coin  to  an  extent  sufficient  to  enable  the  Comptroller 
to  pay  in  gold  the  interest  on  the  stocks  of  New  York 
held  by  persons  residing  abroad ;  and  only  to  that  ex 
tent.  Although  the  resolution  of  last  year  did  not  in 
terms  forbid  the  payment  of  the  interest  due  to  our 
creditors  residing  in  this  country,  in  coin,  yet  the  ab 
sence  of  any  appropriation  for  the  purpose  obliged  the 
Comptroller  to  forego  such  payment. 

"  In  practice,  a  distinction  was  thus  made  between 
the  non-resident  creditor  and  the  resident  creditor. 
We  kept  faith  with  the  stranger  who  had  trusted  us ; 
we  broke  faith  only  with  those  of  our  own  household. 

"The  effect  of  the  resolution  of  this  year,  in  the 
absence  of  any  appropriation,  will  be  that  no  part  of 
the  interest  will  be  paid,  to  wit,  in  coin  or  its  equiva 
lent. 

u  When  we  sought  the  markets  of  the  world  with 
our  securities,  we  pledged  ourselves  to  redeem  them  in 
the  currency  of  the  world.  The  partial  neglect  of 
plighted  faith  last  year  is  now  to  be  followed  by  an 
open  refusal  to  pay  any  of  our  promises  according  to 
their  plain  sense.  The  disgrace  of  last  year  was 
limited ;  it  was  kept  within  ourselves ;  now  our  shame 
and  dishonor  are  to  be  borne  in  the  face  of  the  world. 

"  I  look  upon  this  matter  as  of  so  much  moment  to 
the  welfare  and  to  the  character  of  New  York  and  of 
its  people  that  I  feel  constrained  to  ask  you  to  give  the 
subject  a  reconsideration  ;  and  to  urge  you  to  pass  a 


168  LIFE    OF    HORATIO    SEYMOUR. 

concurrent  resolution  that  shall  enable  the  Comptroller 
to  pay  all  the  interest  which  may  fall  due  before  the 
next  session  of  the  Legislature,  in  coin.  In  this  way 
your  resolution  of  this  year  can  be  carried  into  effect 
consistently  with  the  good  credit  of  the  State,  and  '  no 
distinction'  will  4be  made  between  foreign  and  domestic 
holders '  of  the  bonds.  If  you  do  not  do  this,  let  me 
urge  you  to  provide,  at  least,  for  the  interest  that 
is  due  residents  of  other  countries  being  paid  in 
coin. 

"  The  refusal  to  pay  in  coin  to  our  own  citizens 
may  justify  itself  to  some  minds,  although  not  to  mine, 
as  a  measure  of  quasi  taxation ;  special,  discriminating, 
and  unfair,  but  excused  by  our  present  extraordinary 
condition.  In  dealing  with  our  creditors  in  other 
countries  no  such  considerations  can  come  in.  We 
have  over  them  no  legitimate  power  of  taxation  ;  these 
creditors  of  ours  have  no  voice  nor  part  in  our  politi 
cal  action  ;  we  have  no  claim  upon  them  that  they 
should  take  a  share  in  the  misfortunes  that  befall  us 
in  our  career.  They  are  not  of  our  household,  nor 
bound  to  take  part  of  our  domestic  calamities  upon 
themselves.  The  burdens  and  the  misfortunes  of  this 
war  belong  to  us  ;  it  is  ungenerous  to  shift  any  por 
tion  of  them  upon  others  who  are  not  a  part  of  us. 
These  foreign  creditors  of  ours  are  strangers  who  lent 
us  their  money  when  we  wanted  it;  upon  no  security 
but  our  word  of  honor.  If  we  do  not  pay  them  back 
their  money  to  the  strict  letter  of  our  bargain,  we  incur 
a  shame  that  can  never  be  removed  from  us.  We 
deprive  New  York  of  an  element  of  strength  which 


FINANCIAL    AFFAIRS.  169 

heretofore  has  been  wisely  used,  and  which  its  people 
have  found  profitable,  to  wit,  its  unquestioned  credit. 

"  Principle  and  policy  unite  to  urge  the  action  I 
recommend  to  you.  It  is  the  only  way  in  which  the 
State  can,  in  truth,  fulfil  its  contracts.  It  is  the  only 
way  in  which  the  State  can  keep  itself  in  a  position  to 
go  into  the  market  hereafter  decently  as  a  borrower. 

"  The  State  is  even  now  in  the  market  for  money 
to  pay  its  bounties  to  volunteers.  The  whole  amount 
of  the  appropriation  I  urge  upon  you  will  be  more 
than  repaid  in  the  first  negotiation  the  State  may  make, 
by  the  enhanced  price  of  its  securities.  We  shall  lose 
more  in  our  immediate  transactions,  than  the  cost  of 
providing  the  coin  for  this  interest.  Not  only  our 
future  profit  but  our  immediate  gain  will  be  served  by 
adhering  now  to  the  strictest  letter  of  our  contracts. 

"The  saving  proposed  by  not  paying  in  coin  is 
small  and  temporary,  while  the  dishonor  is  lasting; 
and  the  pecuniary  loss  consequent  upon  this  dishonor, 
will  be  in  the  end  enormous. 

"  Bad  faith  on  the  part  of  New  York,  the  leading 
member  of  our  Confederacy,  must,  inevitably,  weaken 
very  greatly,  if  it  does  not  destroy  the  credit  of 
our  Government  security  in  foreign  markets.  Com 
pared  with  the  importance  of  this  State  action  in  its 
effect  upon  the  credit  of  the  Government,  the  cost  of 
paying  our  interest  in  coin  is  insignificant. 

"  Aside  from  the  consideration  of  interest  or  policy, 
our  duty,  in  my  judgment,  is  plain.  It  is  to  pay  the 
debts  of  the  State ;  to  pay  them  in  precisely  the  mode 
in  which  they  were  promised  to  be  paid ;  to  keep  the 


170  LIFE    OF   HORAHO    SEYMOUR. 

honor  of  the  State  unsullied ;  and  to  this  plain  duty 
we  should  be  true,  cost  what  it  may. 

"  HORATIO  SEYMOUR." 

On  the  same  day  Governor  Seymour  issued  an  ap 
peal  uto  men  of  capital,  the  bankers,  the  merchants, 
and  others  of  the  people  of  the  State  who  have  its 
honor  at  heart,  whereby  at  least  so  much  of  the  in 
terest  as  belongs  to  non-resident  creditors,  if  not  the 
whole,"  might  be  paid  in  coin  or  its  equivalent.  The 
appeal  was  unsuccessful,  and  the  efforts  of  the  pa 
triotic  Governor  to  keep  pure  the  honor  of  the  State 
were  fruitless. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

The  Bogus  Proclamation  of  Mr.  Lincoln — Deception  practised  upon  Dem 
ocratic  Newspapers— Suppression  of  the  u  World"  and  "Journal  of 
Commerce  " — Highhanded  Measures  of  the  Administration — Gov 
ernor  Seymour's  Action  in  tlie  Case — His  Instructions  to  the  District 
Attorney — Action  in  the  Case — Refusal  of  the  Grand  Jury  to  do  its 
Duty — The  Governor's  Instructions  to  Mr.  Hall — Proceedings  against 
General  Dix  and  his  Officers — Trial  of  the  Ca?e  before  Judge  Russell 
— Decision  of  the  Court — The  Sequd — Meeting  of  the  Chicago  Con 
vention — Mr.  Seymour  chosen  P^ident  of  that  Body — His  Services 
during  the  Presidential  Campaign — He  procures  the  Passa-je  of  a 
Law  for  Collecting  the  Votes  of  the  State  Troops  in  the  Field— 
Statement  of  the  Provisions  of  this  Law — Mr.  Seymour  again  nom 
inated  for  Governor  by  the  Democratic  State  Convention — His  Cir 
cular  to  the  Officers  of  the  New  York  Troops  in  the  Federal  Service 
— His  Anxiety  for  a  fair  Election — Measures  on  the  part  of  the  Gov 
ernment  to  control  the  Election — The  Reign  of  Terror — Proclama 
tion  by  the  Governor — The  Election — How  the  Administration  car 
ried  it — Mr.  Seymour  defeated  by  Mr.  Fenton. 

ON  the  18th  of  May,  1864,  there  appeared  in  the 
Journal  of  Commerce  and  The  World,  of  New  York 
City,  a  proclamation  purporting,  to  have  been  issued 
by  President  Lincoln,  setting  apart  the  26th  of  May 
as  a  day  of  fasting  and  prayer,  and  calling  400,000 
men  into  the  service  of  the  United  States.  This  paper 
was  delivered  at  the  offices  of  these  journals  late  on 
the  night  of  the  17th,  and  in  such  a  manner  as  to  in 
duce  the  belief  that  it  was  a  genuine  "  Washington 
despatch."  Soon  after  its  publication,  it  was  discovered 
to  be  a  forgery,  whereupon  the  fact  was  announced 


172  LIFE    OF   HORATIO    SEYMOUR. 

by  the  journals  on  their  bulletin-boards,  and  a  reward 
of  five  hundred  dollars  offered  for  the  author  of  the 
paper.  The  editors  of  The  World  and  Journal  of 
Commerce,  at  once  informed  General  Dix  of  the  for 
gery,  and  gave  him  such  information  as  they  thought 
would  be  of  service  in  his  efforts  to  discover  the  author. 
As  soon  as  the  Government  received  information  of  the 
matter,  orders  were  issued  to  General  Dix  to  seize  the 
offices  of  The  World  and  Journal  of  Commerce,  to  sup 
press  the  publication  of  those  papers,  and  imprison  the 
editors  and  proprietors  in  Fort  Layfayette — the  Amer 
ican  B  as  tile.  The  order  for  the  arrest  and  imprison 
ment  of  these  gentlemen  was  rescinded  on  the  same 
day,  but  the  publication  of  their  papers  was  suspended 
for  two  days.  The  author  of  the  proclamation  was 
discovered,  arrested  and  imprisoned  in  Fort  Lafayette, 
however,  before  the  printing  offices  which  had  been 
seized  were  restored  to  their  owners.  He  was  detained 
in  the  fo it  several  months,  and  then  discharged  without 
any  further  investigation  of  his  offence. 

The  outrage  upon  the  newspapers  excited  the  deep 
est  indignation  on  the  part  of  the  conservative  citizens 
of  the  State ;  and  the  conduct  of  the  Government  was 
seen  to  be  all  the  more  atrocious  as  the  victims  were 
entirely  innocent  of  intentional  wrong. 

Governor  Seymour  determined  to  make  it  the  occa 
sion  of  testing  the  power  of  the  General  Government 
to  outrage  the  liberties  and  rights  of  the  citizens  of  his 
State,  and  on  the  22d  of  May  addressed  the  following 
letter  to  the  District  Attorney : 


LETTER  TO  MR.  HALL.  173 

"  STATE  OF  NEW  YORK,  EXECUTIVE  DEPARTMENT,  ) 
"  ALBANY,  May  22d,  1864.      ) 

"  To  A.  Oakey  Hall,  District  Attorney  of  the  County 
of  New  York: 

"SiR:  I  am  advised  that  on  the  19th  inst,  the 
office  of  the  Journal  of  Commerce  and  that  of  the  New 
York  World  were  entered  by  armed  men,  the  property 
of  the  owners  seized,  and  the  premises  held  by  force 
for  several  days.  It  is  charged  that  these  acts  of  vio 
lence  were  done  without  due  legal  process,  and  without 
the  sanction  of  the  State  or  national  laws. 

"  If  this  be  true,  the  offenders  must  be  punished. 

"  In  the  month  of  July  last,  when  New  York  was 
a  scene  of  violence,  I  gave  warning  that  c  the  laws  of 
the  State  must  be  enforced,  its  peace  and  order  main 
tained,  and  the  property  of  its  citizens  protected  at 
every  hazard.'  The  laws  were  enforced  at  a  fearful 
cost  of  blood  and  life. 

"The  declaration  I  then  made  was  not  intended  for 
that  occasion  merely  or  against  any  class  of  men.  It 
is  one  of  an  enduring  character,  to  be  asserted  at  all 
times,  against  all  conditions  of  citizens,  without  favor 
or  distinction.  Unless  all  are  made  to  bow  to  the  law, 
it  will  be  respected  by  none.  Unless  all  are  made  se 
cure  in  their  rights  of  person  and  property,  none  can 
be  protected.  If  the  owners  of  the  above-named  jour 
nals  have  violated  State  or  national  laws,  they  must  be 
proceeded  against  and  punished  by  those  laws.  Any 
action  against  them  outside  of  legal  procedures  is 
criminal.  At  this  time  of  civil  war  and  disorder,  the 


174  LIFE    OF    HORATIO    SEYMOUR. 

majesty  of  the  law  must  be  upheld,  or  society  will  sink 
into  anarchy. 

u  Our  soldiers  in  the  field  will  battle  in  vain  for 
constitutional  liberty,  if  persons,  or  property,  or  opin 
ions  are  trampled  on  at  home.  We  must  not  give  up 
home  freedom,  and  thus  disgrace  American  characters 
while  our  citizens  in  the  army  are  pouring  out  their 
blood  to  maintain  the  national  honor.  They  must  not 
find,  when  they  come  back,  that  their  personal  and  fire 
side  rights  have  been  despoiled. 

"In  addition  to  the  general  obligation  to  enforce 
the  laws  of  the  land,  there  are  local  reasons  why  they 
must  be  upheld  in  the  city  of  New  York.  If  they  are 
not,  its  commerce  and  greatness  will  be  broken  down. 
If  this  great  centre  of  wealth,  business,  and  enterprise 
is  thrown  into  disorder  and  bankruptcy,  the  National 
Government  will  be  paralyzed.  What  makes  New 
York  the  heart  of  our  country  ?  Why  are  its  pulsa 
tions  felt  at  the  extremities  of  our  land  ?  Not  through 
its  position  alone,  but  because  of  the  world- wide  belief 
that  property  is  safe  within  its  limits  from  waste  by 
mobs  and  spoliation  by  Government.  The  laborers  in 
the  workshop,  the  mine,  and  in  the  field,  on  this  conti 
nent  and  in  every  other  part  of  the  globe,  send  to  its  mer 
chants,  for  sale  or  exchange,  the  products  of  their  toil. 
These  merchants  are  made  the  trustees  of  the  wealth 
of  millions  living  in  every  land,  because  it  is  believed 
that  in  their  hands  property  is  safe  under  the  shield 
of  laws  administered  upon  principles  and  according 
to  known  usages. 

"  This   great  confidence   has  grown  up  in  many 


LETXTER   TO    MR.    HALL.  175 

years  by  virtue  of  painstaking  honest  performance  of 
duty  by  the  business  men  of  your  city.  In  this  they 
have  been  aided  by  the  enforcement  of  laws  based  upon 
solemnly- recorded  pledges  that  'the  people's  right  to 
be  secure  in  their  persons,  houses,  papers,  and  effects 
against  unreasonable  searches  and  seizures,  shall  not 
be  violated,  and  that  no  one  shall  be  deprived  of  lib 
erty  or  property  without  the  process  of  law.'  For 
more  than  eighty  years  have  we  as  a  people  been  build 
ing  up  this  universal  faith  in  the  sanctity  of  our  juris 
prudence.  It  is  this  which  carries  our  commerce  upon 
every  ocean,  and  brings  back  to  our  merchants  the 
wealth  of  every  clime.  It  is  now  charged  that  in  utter 
disregard  of  the  sanctity  of  that  faith,  at  a  moment 
when  the  national  credit  is  undergoing  a  fearful  trial, 
the  organs  of  commerce  are  seized  and  held,  in  viola 
tion  of  Constitutional  pledges  ;  that  this  act  was  thus 
done  in  a  public  mart  of  your  great  city,  and  was  thus 
forced  upon  the  notice  of  the  commercial  agents  of 
the  world,  and  they  were  shown -in  an  offensive  way 
that  property  is  seized  by  military  force  and  arbitrary 
orders.  These  things  are  more  hurtful  to  the  national 
honor  and  strength  than  the  loss  of  battles. 

"  The  world  will  confound  such  acts  with  the  prin 
ciples  of  our  Government,  and  the  folly  and  crimes  of 
officials  will  be  looked  upon  as  the  natural  results  of 
the  spirit  of  our  institutions.  Our  State  and  local  au 
thorities  must  repel  this  ruinous  interference.  If  the 
merchants  of  New  York  are  not  willing  to  have  their 
harbor  sealed  up  and  their  commerce  paralyzed,  they 
must  unite  in  this  demand  for  the  security  of  persons 


176  LIFE    OF   HORATIO    SEYMOUR. 

and  property.  If  this  is  not  done,  the  world  will 
withdraw  from  their  keeping  its  treasures  and  its  com 
merce.  History  has  taught  all,  that  official  violation 
of  civil  law  and  order  goes  before  acts  of  spoliation 
and  other  measures  which  destroy  the  safeguards  of 
commerce. 

"  I  call  upon  you  to  look  into  the  acts  connected 
with  the  seizure  of  the  Journal  of  Commerce  and  of  the 
JVeiv  York  World.  If  these  acts  were  illegal,  the  of 
fenders  must  be  punished.  In  making  your  inquiries 
and  in  prosecuting  the  parties  implicated,  you  will  call 
upon  the  Sheriff  of  the  County  and  the  heads  of  the 
police  department  for  any  needed  force  or  assistance. 
The  failure  to  give  this  by  any  official  under  my  con 
trol,  will  be  deemed  a  sufficient  cause  for  his  removal. 
"  Very  respectfully,  yours,  &c., 

"  HORATIO  SEYMOUR." 

Upon  receipt  of  these  instructions,  the  District 
Attorney  laid  the  matter  before  the  Grand  Jury,  who 
reported  that  it  was  "  inexpedient  to  examine  into  the 
subject/1  The  Governor  thereupon  sent  Mr.  Hall 
these  further  instructions : 

"  EXECUTIVE  CHAMBER, 

ALBANY,  June  25th,  1864. 
"A.  Oakey  Hall,  Esq.,  Dist.  Attorney  of  the  City  and 

County  of  New  York : 

"  SIR  :  In  the  matter  of  the  seizure  of  the  offices 
of  the  World  and  Journal  of  Commerce,  the  Grand 
Jury,  in  disregard  of  their  oaths  4  to  diligently  inquire 


INSTRUCTIONS   TO    MR.    HALL.  177 

into  and  make  the  presentment  of  all  such  mat 
ters  and  things  as  should  be  given  them  in  charge,1 
have  refused  to  make  such  inquiries,  and  declare  that 
'it  is  inexpedient  to  examine  into  the  subject  referred 
to  in  the  charge  of  the  court,'  with  respect  to  such 
seizures.  It  becomes  my  duty  under  the  express  re 
quirements  of  the  Constitution  '  to  take  care  that  the 
laws  of  the  State  are  faithfully  executed.'  If  the 
Grand  Jury,  in  pursuance  of  the  demands  of  the  law 
and  the  obligations  of  their  oaths,  had  inquired  into 
the  matter  given  them  in  charge  by  the  Court  and  the 
Public  Prosecutor,  their  decision,  whatever  it  might 
have  been,  would  have  been  entitled  to  respect.  As 
they  have  refused  to  do  their  duty,  the  subject  of  the 
seizure  of  these  journals  should  at  once  be  brought 
before  some  proper  magistrate.  If  you  wish  any  assis 
tance  in  the  prosecution  of  these  investigations,  it  will 
be  given  to  you. 

u  As  it  is  a  matter  of  public  interest  that  violations 
of  the  laws  of  the  State  be  punished,  the  views  or 
wrishes  of  the  parties  immediately  affected  must  not  be 
suffered  to  influence  the  action  of  public  officers.  If 
through  fear  or  other  motives,  they  are  unwilling  to 
aid  you  in  getting  at  facts,  it  will  be  your  duty  to 
compel  their  attendance  as  witnesses  in  behalf  of  the 
people.  "  Respectfully  yours, 

"  HORATIO  SEYMOUR." 

On  the  28th  of  June,  the  District  Attorney  made 
an  affidavit  before  Judge  Russell,    of  the  City  and 
County,   who  issued  subpoenas  for  witnesses.     After 
12 


178  LIFE    OF   HORATIO    SEYMOUR. 

hearing  the  testimony  of  the  witnesses,  Judge  Russell 
issued  warrants  for  the  arrest  of  Major-General  John 
A.  Dix,  Capt.  Barstow,  Major  Bowles,  Capt.  Gundy, 
and  Lieut.  Tuthill,  and  placed  these  warrants  in  the 
hands  of  the  Sheriff. 

The  parties  voluntarily  appeared  in  Court  by  their 
counsel  on  the  6th  of  July,  and  were  relieved  from 
custody  on  the  parole  of  General  Dix.  The  argument 
of  the  case  was  ordered  to  be  made  on  the  9th.  The 
Counsel  for  the  defence  announced  that  the  President 
had  ordered  General  Dix  to  disregard  the  process  of 
the  Court  and  not  to  allow  himself  to  be  arrested  or  de 
prived  of  his  liberty.  Information  of  this  was  at  once 
telegraphed  to  Governor  Seymour,  who,  on  the  7th  of 
July,  ordered  the  District  Attorney  to  enforce  the  law 
of  the  State  without  regard  to  the  President's  order  to 
General  Dix  to  resist  the  process  of  the  Court. 

The  case  was  heard  on  July  9th,  Judge  Pierrepont 
arid  Mr.  Evarts,  the  present  Attorney- General  of  the 
United  States,  arguing  in  favor  of  the  right  of  the 

/  O  O  O 

President  to  order  the  suppression  of  the  journals  by 
General  Dix,  and  Mr.  Hall,  and  Gen.  Cochrane,  the 
Attorney -General  of  the  State,  sustaining  the  view  of 
the  case  taken  by  the  Governor.  On  the  1st  of  Au 
gust,  the  judge  delivered  his  decision.  He  said  that, 
after  a  careful  examination  of  the  matter,  he  had  con 
cluded  to  hold  General  Dix  and  the  other  parties  to 
the  acts  complained  of,  subject  to  the  action  of  the 
Grand  Jury  of  the  City  and  County.  He  said : 

"It  is  unnecessary  for  me,  in  deciding  this  matter, 
to  rehearse  the  facts  of  the  case.  The  defendants, 


OPINION    OP   JUDGE    RUSSELL.  179 

through  their  counsel,  place  themselves  under  the  pro 
tection  of  Section  4  of  the  Act  of  Congress  of  March 
3,  1863,  entitled  '  An  Act  relating  to  Habeas  Corpus, 
and  regulating  judicial  proceedings  in  certain  cases.' 
If  that  provision  is  constitutional,  it  assimilates  the 
President  of  the  United  States  during  the  existence 
of  the  present  rebellion,  to  an  absolute  monarch,  and 
makes  him  incapable  of  doing  any  wrong.  This  is  a 
very  novel  and  startling  doctrine  to  advance  under  a 
republican  form  of  government. 

"I  have  given  the  case  a  most  careful  consideration; 
on  the  one  hand,  seeking  to  avoid  an  undue  inter 
ference  with  the  agents  of  the  Government  in  the  per 
formance  of  their  duty,  and,  on  the  other,  keeping 
before  me  my  own  obligation  to  uphold  and  enforce 
the  laws  of  this  State.  I  do  not  deem  it  proper  to 
state  in  detail  the  view  I  entertain  upon  the  legal  prin 
ciples  so  ably  discussed  before  me  by  counsel  upon 
both  sides.  Such  an  exposition  of  the  law  would  be 
more  appropriate  should  the  case  come  before  the  Court 
for  trial." 

Here  the  matter  ended.  The  terror  inspired  by 
the  Government  was  so  great  that  the  guilty  parties 
escaped  the  punishment  they  so  richly  deserved,  and 
the  efforts  of  the  Governor  in  behalf  of  the  freedom  of 
his  fellow-citizens  ended  in  a  failure. 

The  National  Democratic  Convention  met  at  Chi 
cago  on  the  29th  of  August,  1864,  for  the  purpose  of 
nominating  candidates  for.  the  offices  of  President  and 
Vice-President  of  the  United  States.  It  was  organized 
by  the  election  of  Mr.  Seymour  as  President  of  the 


180  LIFE    OF   HORATIO   SEYMOUR. 

Convention.  His  friends  had  insisted  on  placing  his 
name  before  the  Convention  for  the  nomination  for  the 
Presidency  of  the  United  States ;  but  on  the  day  before 
the  organization  of  that  body,  he  announced  positively 
that  he  would  not  be  a  candidate.  The  Convention 
nominated  General  McClellan  for  the  Presidency,  and 
Hon.  Geo.  H.  Pendleton  for  the  Vice-Presidency. 

The  campaign  was  an  ardent  and  exciting  contest,  in 
which  the  Administration  gave  unmistakable  evidence 
of  its  determination  to  carry  the  elections  in  its  favor 
at  any  risk. 

As  there  were  thousands  of  legal  voters  of  the  State 
of  New  York  serving  in  the  army,  Governor  Seymour 
had  some  time  before  this  procured  the  passage  of  a 
Constitutional  amendment  by  the  Legislature,  which 
was  submitted  to  and  approved  by  the  people,  author 
izing  the  soldiers  of  the  State  in  the  service  of  the 
Union,  who  were  legal  voters,  to  take  part  in  the 
election  without  returning  home.  In  consequence  of 
this  authority  from  the  people,  a  law  was  passed  by  the 
Legislature,  and  approved  by  the  Governor  on  the  21st 
of  April,  1864,  prescribing  the  manner  in  which  the 
elections  should  be  held  in  the  army  and  navy. 

This  law  extends  the  right  to  vote  in  time  of  war, 
to  qualified  electors  "  in  the  actual  military  service  of 
the  United  States,  in  the  army  or  navy  thereof,  who 
shall  be  absent  from  the  State  of  New  York  on  the 
day  of  election."  The  right  thus  extended  is  by  the 
terms  of  the  law  expressly  restricted  to  the  officers  and 
enlisted  men  actually  in  the  military  service,  and  is  not 
granted  to  sutlers,  clerks,  teamsters,  officers1  servants, 


THE    ARMY    ELECTION    LAW.  181 

and  other  camp  followers.  They  could  vote  only  at 
their  own  homes  in  the  State.  If  any  soldier  or  sailor 
is  in  the  State  on  election  day,  he  can  vote  only  at  the 
precinct  in  which  he  resides.  The  right  given  to  volun 
teers  is  also  extended  to  qualified  citizens  of  the  State 
who  are  members  of  the  regular  army,  and  to  those 
who  may  be  members  of  the  militia  regiments  absent 
from  the  State  at  the  time,  in  the  service  of  the  United 
States. 

"  An  elector  authorized  to  vote  by  the  provisions 
of  the  law,  can  do  so  at  any  time  within  the  sixty  days 
next  previous  to  the  election.  For  that  purpose,  he 
must  execute  a  proxy,  authorizing  any  elector  of  the 
town  or  city  in  which  he  resides,  whom  he  may  name 
in  the  proxy,  to  deliver  his  vote  to  the  inspectors  of 
the  election  district  in  which  the  voter  resides,  on  the 
day  of  the  election.  The  proxy  must  be  signed  by  the 
person  voting,  and  must  also  be  attested  by  a  sub 
scribing  witness  and  sworn  to  before  any  field-officer, 
captain,  adjutant,  or  commandant  of  any  company  or 
detachment  on  detached  service,  in  the  service  of  the 
United  States,  and  commissioned  as  officers  in  the 
volunteer  force  of  the  State  of  New  York ;  or,  if  the 
absent  elector  is  in  the  navy,  before  '  the  captain  or 
commandant  of  any  vessel  in  the  naval  service  of  the 
United  States  to  which  the  said  absent  elector  mav 
belong  or  be  attached.1  The  voter  is  also  required  to 
make  and  subscribe  before  any  such  officer  an  affidavit 
of  his  qualification  as  an  elector. 

"  The  elector  can  vote  *  for  all  officers  for  whom  he 
would  have  a  right  to  vote  if  he  were  present '  at  the 


182  LIFE    OF    HOKATIO    SEYMOUR. 

election.  He  must  fold  his  ballots  and  inclose  them 
with  his  proxy  in  an  envelope,  duly  sealed,  on  the  out 
side  of  which  must  be  his  affidavit  of  qualification  as 
an  elector.  The  envelope  must  be  enclosed  in  another 
envelope,  which  must  be  sealed  and  directed  to  the 
person  authorized  by  the  proxy  to  cast  the  vote,  and 
transmitted  to  him  4  by  mail  or  otherwise.' 

"  The  person  to  whom  the  proxy  is  directed  may 
open  the  outer  envelope,  but  not  the  inner  one.  On 
the  day  of  the  election  he  must  deliver  the  inner  en 
velope  to  the  inspectors  at  the  polls.  If  the  name  of 
the  soldier  making  the  affidavit  of  qualification  as  a 
voter,  endorsed  on  the  envelope,  is  on  the  list  of  reg 
istered  electors,  the  inspectors  will  open  the  envelope 
and  deposit  the  ballots  in  the  appropriate  boxes.  If 
the  name  is  not  on  the  list,  an  affidavit  must  be  made 
by  c  a  householder  of  the  district,1  that  he  knows  the 
soldier  to  be  c  a  resident  of  the  district,'  or  the  envelope 
will  not  be  opened,  and  the  soldier  will  lose  his  vote. 
The  affidavit  required  is  only  to  prove  residence,  and 
the  law  provides  no  separate  affidavit  of  qualification 
of  colored  men,  as  required  by  the  Constitution."  * 

During  the  month  of  September,  the  Democratic 
State  Convention  nominated  Mr.  Seymour  for  reelec 
tion  to  the  Governor's  chair,  and  the  Republicans  put 
forward  the  Hon.  Rueben  E.  Fenton  as  their  candi 
date.  The  election  was  held  in  November  together 
with  the  Presidential  election. 

As  the  political  campaign  progressed,  Governor 
Seymour  addressed  the  following  circular,  with  refer- 

*  Annual  Cyclopoodia,  1864,  pp.  581-582. 


CIRCULAR    TO    OFFICERS.  183 

ence  to  the  act  to  authorize  soldiers  to  vote,  to  the  com 
mand 
field: 


maridants  and  surgeons  of  New  York  regiments  in  the 


"  STATE  OF  NEW  YORK,  EXECUTIVE  DEPARTMENT,  ) 
"  ALBANY,  Sept.  30,  1864.      [ 

"  To ofN.  Y.  8.  Vols.  : 

"  The  Legislature  of  this  State,  at  its  last  session, 
passed  an  act  which  received  my  signature  and  became 
a  law,  on  the  21st  of  April,  1864,  entitled  can  act  to 
enable  the  qualified  electors  of  this  State,  absent  there 
from  in  the  military  service  of  the  United  States,  in 
the  army  or  navy  thereof,  to  vote.' 

"  This  act  inaugurates  a  new  feature  in  our  system 
of  elective  franchise,  and  I  feel  it  incumbent  upon  me 
to  call  your  attention  to  its  provisions,  and  to  ask  that 
you  see  it  faithfully  and  impartially  carried  out.  The 
act  provides  for  this  in  the  following  section: 

"  '  SEC.  13.  Any  officer  of  the  State  or  of  the  United 
States,  or  any  other  person,  who  shall  directly  control 
or  attempt  to  control  any  such  enlisted  elector  in  the 
exercise  of  any  of  his  rights  under  this  act,  by  menace, 
bribery,  fear  of  punishment,  hope  of  reward,  or  any 
other  corrupt  or  arbitrary  measure,  or  resort  whatever, 
to  annoy,  infure,  or  otherwise  punish  any  such  officer 
or  man,  for  the  manner  in  which  lie  may  have  exercised 
any  such  right,  shall  be  deemed  guilty  of  an  offence 
against  the  sovereignty  of  this  State,  which  shall  be 
punished  as  a  misdemeanor,  and  for  ivhich  he  may  be 
indicted  and  tried  at  any  future  time,  when  he  may  be 
found  within  the  limits  of  the  State;  and  upon  con- 


184  LIFE    OF    HORATIO    SEYMOUR. 

viction  lie  shall  be  imprisoned  for  a  term  not  exceeding 
one  year,  and  fined  in  a  sum  not  exceeding  one  thousand 
dollars,  and  he  shall  also  thenceforth  be  ineligible,  after 
conviction,  to  hold  any  office  in  this  State? 

"  The  twelfth  section  of  the  act  herein  referred  to, 
provides  for  the  preparation,  by  the  Secretary  of  State, 
of  blank  forms  and  envelopes,  which,  together  with 
copies  of  the  soldiers'  voting  act,  have  been  forwarded 
by  express  to  the  different  regiments  and  battalions  of 
New  York  State  volunteers  in  the  United  States 
service,  and  to  the  sick  and  wounded  New  York  sol 
diers  in  U.  S.  hospitals,  under  the  following  order : 

;  WAR  DEPARTMENT,  ADJUTANT  GENERAL'S  OFFICE,  \ 
4  WASHINGTON,  August  8,  1864.      j 
'SPECIAL  ORDERS  No.  262. 

'19.  All  o fleers  in  the  military  service  of  the  Uni 
ted  States  will  render  every  facility  to  such  Express 
Companies  as  may  be  charged  by  the  Governor  of  New 
York  with  the  delivery  of  the  necessary  forms  and 
blanks  required  to  secure  the  votes  of  soldiers  of  that 
State  in  the  field,  ivith  a  view  to  the  blanks  being  de 
livered,  with  the  least  practical  delay. 
4  By  order  of  the  Secretary  of  War. 

4  E.  D.  TOWNS  END, 

4  [Official."}  Assistant  Adjutant   Genial. 

4  E.  D.  TOWNSEND,  Assistant  Adjutant  General.'' 

u  I  send  you  a  set  of  ballots  prepared  by  the  friends 
of  General  McClellan,  and  have  requested  the  Secre 
tary  of  State  to  forward  to  you  a  set  prepared  by  the 
friends  of  Mr.  Lincoln. 


CIRCULAR    TO    OFFICERS.  185 

"  The  State  and  Local  Committees  of  the  two  polit 
ical  parties  will  send  you  the  necessary  number  of 
ballots. 

"  You  can  do  much  towards  securing  to  your  offi 
cers  and  men  a  fair  expression  of  their  political  prefer 
ences,  if  you  will  detail  one  or  more  officers  of  your 
command  of  each  political  party,  to  distribute  the  bal 
lots  and  to  aid  soldiers  and  commissioners  in  filling  up 
the  requisite  powers  of  attorney.  You  are  also  re 
quested  to  use  every  effort  to  send  forward  the  envel 
opes,  containing  the  powers  of  attorney  and  ballots,  to 
the  electors  in  the  several  election  districts  of  this 
State,  named  on  the  back  thereof — either  by  express 
or  mail,  or  through  such  reliable  commissioners  as  may 
visit  your  command. 

u  I  feel  confident  that  every  officer  from  New  York 
will  feel  an  honorable  pride  in  seeing  that  the  laws  of 
his  State  are  carried  out  according  to  their  letter  and 
spirit,  and  that  they  will  protect  all  under  their  care 
in  the  full  and  free  exercise  of  their  personal  and  polit 
ical  rights.  Truly  yours,  &c., 

"  HORATIO  SEYMOUR." 

On  the  28th  of  October,  General  Dix  issued  an 
order,  warning  all  persons  from  attempting  to  interfere 
with  the  elections,  and  taking  measures  to  prevent  the 
incursions  of  any  armed  partisans  of  the  enemy  into 
the  State  from  Canada,  as  the  Government  affected  to 
believe  there  was  danger  of  this.  The  true  motive  of 
the  Administration  was  doubtless  to  inspire  terror  in 
the  hearts  of  the  timid  members  of  the  Democratic 


186  LIFE    OF   HORATIO    SEYMOUR. 

party,  and  keep  them  away  from  the  polls  on  election 
day.  Other  orders,  having  the  same  object  in  view, 
were  issued,  and  good  care  was  taken  by  the  Adminis 
tration  to  let  it  be  known  that  it  would  regard  voting 
the  Democratic  ticket  as  an  u  act  of  disloyalty."  So 
thoroughly,  indeed,  was  this  understood  that  many 
persons  feared  the  election  would  be  controlled  by 
armed  force.  To  calm  this  state  of  feeling  and  encour 
age  every  citizen  to  assert  his  right,  the  Governor  issued 
the  following  proclamation : 

"  EXECUTIVE  CHAMBER,  ALBANY,  ) 
"November  2d,  1864.      j 

"  In  a  few  days  the  citizens  of  this  country  are  to 
exercise  their  constitutional  duty  of  electing  a  Presi 
dent  and  Vice-President  of  the  United  States,  at  a 
time  when  the  condition  of  our  country  excites  the 
deepest  interest. 

"  The  questions  of  the  day  not  only  affect  the  per 
sonal  welfare  of  all,  and  the  happiness  of  their  homes, 
but  also  are  of  a  character  to  arouse  the  passions  and 
lead  to  angry  controversies  between  parties. 

"The  existence  of  a  terrible  civil  war  and  the  as 
sertion  of  the  right  of  military  commanders  in  some 
sections  of  our  country  to  interfere  with  elections,  have 
caused  painful  and  exciting  doubts  in  the  minds  of 
many  with  regard  to  the  free  and  untrammelled  exer 
cise  of  the  elective  franchise.  I  therefore  appeal  to  all 
men  of  all  political  parties  to  unite  with  those  holding 
official  positions,  in  their  efforts  to  allay  undue  excite 
ment,  soften  the  harshness  of  party  prejudices  and  pas- 


PROCLAMATION  OF  THE  GOVERNOR.        187 

sions,  and  to  avoid  all  measures  which  tend  to  strife 
or  disorder. 

"  However  we  may  differ  in  our  views  of  public 
policy,  we  are  alike  interested  in  the  maintaining  of 
order,  in  the  preservation  of  the  rights  and  the  jjromo- 
tion  of  the  prosperity  of  our  State. 

"  While  we  do  not  agree  as  to  the  methods  by 
which  these  ends  are  to  be  gained,  they  are  earnestly 
sought  by  all. 

u  It  is  certain  they  cannot  be  reached  by  angry  con 
troversies,  unreasonable  suspicions  or  disorderly  ac 
tions. 

"  There  are  no  well-grounded  facts  that  the  rights 
of  the  citizens  of  New  York  will  be  trampled  upon  at 
the  polls. 

"  The  power  of  this  State  is  ample  to  protect  all 
classes  in  the  free  exercise  of  their  political  duties.  In 
doing  this  the  public  authorities  will  be  upheld  by  good 
citizens  of  all  parties. 

"  There  is  no  reason  to  doubt  that  the  coming 

o 

election  will  be  conducted  with  the  usual  quiet  and 
order. 

u  Sheriffs  of  counties,  and  all  other  officers  whose 
duty  it  is  to  keep  the  peace  and  protect  our  citizens, 
will  take  care  that  every  voter  shall  have  a  free  ballot 
in  the  manner  secured  to  him  by  the  Constitution  and 
laws.  It  will  be  their  duty  to  see  that  no  military  or 
other  organized  forces  shall  be  allowed  to  show  them 
selves  in  the  vicinity  of  the  places  where  elections  are 
held,  with  any  view  of  menacing  or  intimidating  citi 
zens  in  attendance  thereon.  Against  any  such  inter- 


188  LIFE    OF   HORATIO    SEYMOUR. 

ference  they  must  exercise  the  full  force  of  the  law, 
and  call  forth,  if  need  be,  the  power  of  their  districts. 

"  In  witness  whereof  I  have  hereunto  signed 
my  name,  and  affixed  the  Privy  Seal  of  the 
[L.  s.]   State,  at  the  city  of  Albany,  this  2d  day  of 
November,  in  the  year  of  Our  Lord  1864. 
"  HORATIO  SEYMOUR. 
"  By  the  Governor : 

u  D.  WILLIAMS,  JR.,  Private  Secretary." 

Governor  Seymour  made  frequent  and  eloquent 
addresses  during  the  Presidential  campaign,  in  favor 
of  the  choice  of  General  McClellan  by  the  people. 
The  election  was  held  on  the  8th  of  November,  and 
through  the  indirect  interference  of  the  Government, 
resulted  in  the  reelection  of  President  Lincoln  by  a 
majority  of  406,812  in  a  poll  of  4,004,850  votes. 
Had  there  been  a  fair  election,  there  is  no  doubt  Gen 
eral  McClellan  would  have  been  successful,  but  so 
great  was  the  terror  inspired  by  the  Government,  that 
many  Democrats  stayed  away  from  the  polls,  and  in 
the  Border  States,  at  least,  many  were  prevented  from 
exercising  their  right  of  suffrage  on  the  ground  that 
voting  for  McClellan  was  "  an  act  of  disloyalty."  In 
this  way  the  Republicans  carried  the  country,  and 
forced  upon  an  unwilling  people  a  continuance  of  their 
rule. 

In  the  contest  for  Governor,  Mr.  Seymour  was  de 
feated  by  Mr.  Fenton,  and  the  State  passed  out  of 
the  hands  of  the  Democracy  into  those  of  the  Repub 
licans  by  a  majority  of  over  eight  thousand. 


CHAPTER    IX. 

Efforts  of  the  Governor  to  secure  a  fair  Vote  in  the  Army — Alleged 
Fraud  on  the  part  of  State  Agents — Arrest  of  Ferry  and  Donolme — 
They  are  tried  and  sentenced  by  a  Military  Commission — Arrest  of 
Colonel  North  and  others — They  are  imprisoned  in  the  Old  Capitol — 
Governor  Seymour  resolves  to  defend  their  Rights  as  Citizens  of 
New  York — Commissioners  sent  to  Washington — His  Letter  of  In 
structions — Action  of  the  Commissioners — Their  Interview  with  the 
Secretary  of  War — Their  first  Requests  complied  with — They  Visit  the 
Prisoners — Inhuman  Treatment  of  its  Prisoners  by  the  Administra 
tion — No  Charges  made  against  them — The  Letter  of  the  Commis 
sioners  to  the  Secretary  of  War — Statement  of  the  Case — The  Gov 
ernment  without  Jurisdiction  in  the  matter — Reply  of  the  War  De 
partment — The  Sovereignty  of  New  York  outraged  by  the  Admin 
istration — Departure  of  the  Commissioners — Persecution  of  Colonel 
North  and  his  Companions — Their  Acquittal  and  subsequent  Cap 
tivity — Slanders  of  the  Republicans  upon  Governor  Seymour — Their 
Shallowness — Mr.  Seymour  retires  to  Private  Life — The  Democratic 
State  Convention — Tribute  to  President  Johnson — Mr.  Seymour's 
Speech  at  Cooper  Institute  in  June,  1868 — A  magnificent  Effort — 
Review  and  Denunciation  of  the  Republican  Policy — The  Radicals 
exposed  to  the  Public  Scorn. 

IN  order  to  carry  out  the  law  for  the  casting  of  the 
ballots  of  the  New  York  troops  in  the  field,  Governor 
Seymour  appointed  agents  on  the  part  of  the  State, 
and  sent  them  to  various  points  where  the  New  York 
troops  were  serving,  to  collect  and  forward  the  bal 
lots. 

On  the  27th  of  October,  1864,  Moses  J.  Ferry 
and  Edward  Donohue,  Jr.,  the  State  Agents  at  Bal 
timore,  were  arrested  by  the  United  States  authorities 


190  LIFE    OF    HORATIO    SEYMOUR. 

and  imprisoned.  On  the  same  day  the  New  York 
Agency  at  Washington  city  was  closed,  and  Colonel 
Samuel  North,  Levi  Cohn,  and  M.  M.  Jones,  the  par 
ties  in  charge  of  it,  were  seized  and  imprisoned  in  Old 
Capitol  prison,  by  order  of  the  War  Department.  The 
charges  against  these  men  were  that  they  were  guilty 
of  fraud  and  forgery  in  procuring  soldiers'  votes. 
Ferry  was  brought  before  a  Military  Commission  on 
the  day  of  his  arrest.  He  confessed  that  he  was  guilty 
of  the  crime  of  forging  the  names  which  were  signed 
to  some  of  the  ballots,  and  as  his  testimony  implicated 
Donohue,  he  was  recommended  by  the  Judge  Advo 
cate  to  the  mercy  of  the  Court.  He  was  sentenced  to 
the  penitentiary  for  a  term  of  years.  Donohue  was 
tried  the  next  day.  He  objected  to  the  jurisdiction 
of  the  Court,  on  the  ground  that  the  offence  charged 
was  one  which  should  be  tried  not  by  a  military  but 
by  a  civil  court,  and  pleaded  guilty  to  having  signed 
certain  blanks  with  the  name  of  C.  G.  Arthur,  A.  A. 
G.,  but  claimed  that  as  there  was  no  such  person  in 
existence,  his  act  did  not  constitute  a  crime.  The 
Court  found  him  guilty,  however,  upon  the  testimony 
of  the  witnesses  summoned,  and  sentenced  him  to  the 
penitentiary  for  five  years.  The  Commission  then  ad 
journed  to  Washington  for  the  purpose  of  trying  the 
cases  of  Colonel  North  and  his  associates  in  the  State 
Agency.  The  charges  on  which  they  were  finally 
tried  were,  conduct  prejudicial  to  good  order  and  mili 
tary  discipline,  arid  fraud  toward  the  New  York  State 
electors  in  that  they  forged  the  names  of  officers  and 
soldiers  to  what  purported  to  be  ballots  of  said  soldiers, 


PERSECUTION   OF   COL.    NORTH.  191 

to  be  used  at  the  election.  They  were  also  charged 
with  falsely  and  fraudulently  issuing  divers  and  sundry 
blanks,  which  purported  to  be  signed  by  officers  and 
soldiers  in  the  military  service  of  the  United  States, 
authorizing  certain  parties  to  cast  their  votes  at  the 
ensuing  State  and  national  election,  with  the  intent  to 
defraud  the  true  elector  of  his  rights. 

The  only  ground  which  the  Government  had  to 
suspect  Colonel  North  and  his  companions  of  fraud 
towards  the  soldiers,  was  that  the  State  Agents  in 
Baltimore  had  been  guilty  of  such  practices,  but  it  was 
only  too  glad  to  have  some  excuse  for  an  act  which 
might  produce  confusion  in  the  election,  cast  the  sus 
picion  of  illegality  on  more  or  less  of  the  soldiers'  bal 
lots,  and  thus  diminish  the  number  of  Democratic 
votes  in  New  York.  Colonel  North  was  the  duly  ac 
credited  agent  of  the  State  of  New  York,  appointed  to 
look  after  the  interests  of  the  volunteers  from  that  State 
in  Washington  ;  Mr.  Cohn  was  the  paymaster  of  the 
State,  temporarily  in  Washington  for  the  purpose  of 
paying  the  State  bounties  to  reenlisted  men  ;  and  Mr. 
Jones,  was  connected  with  the  State  agency  as  Visitor 
of  Hospitals.  All  these  gentlemen  had  well  and  faith 
fully  discharged  their  duties  to  the  satisfaction  of  the 
State  authorities,  and  the  Government  had  no  just 
cause  of  complaint  against  them.  Their  arrest  was 
dictated  by  partisan  hostility  on  the  part  of  the  Secre 
tary  of  War.  Had  the  charges  brought  against  them 
been  true,  the  Government  would  have  had  no  power 
to  try  or  punish  them,  as  the  offence  was  one  against  the 
State  of  New  York,  and  not  against  the  United  States. 


192  LIFE    OF   HORATIO   SEYMOUR. 

Feeling  that  the  rights  of  these  victims  of  the 
War  Department,  who  were  citizens  of  New  York, 
and  entitled  to  the  protection  of  that  State,  had  been 
infringed,  Governor  Seymour,  who  was  well  aware 
of  the  despotic  manner  in  which  the  War  Depart 
ment  treated  its  victims,  determined  to  send  a  com 
mission,  composed  of  three  of  the  leading  men  of 
the  State,  to  Washington,  to  look  into  the  matter,  and 
also  to  endeavor  to  procure  and  forward  the  soldiers' 
ballots  which  had  been  seized  by  the  Government,  in 
order  that  such  as  were  legal  might  be  cast  at  the 
approaching  election.  Accordingly,  on  the  30th  of 
October,  he  issued  the  following  order : 
* 

"  ALBANY,  October  30. 

"  To  Amasa  J.  Parker,  William   F.  Allen,  and  Wil 
liam  Kelly,  greeting  : 

"  It  being  reported  that  Col.  Samuel  North,  agent 
of  the  State  of  New  York  at  Washington,  together 
with  certain  other  citizens  of  this  State,  not  in  the 
military  or  naval  service  of  the  United  States,  have 
been  placed  in  arrest  by  the  military  authorities  of  the 
United  States,  and  no  reason  for  such  arrest  having 
been  given  to  me,  and  being  anxious  to  learn  the 
fact  of  such  arrest  and  the  grounds  therefor,  to  the 
end  that  no  innocent  persons  may  be  imprisoned 
without  a  fair  and  speedy  trial,  and  that  no  obsta 
cle  may  be  put  in  the  way  of  soldiers  of  this  State 
having  a  fair  ballot,  according  to  its  laws ; 

u  Know  you  that  I,  Horatio  Seymour,  Governor 
of  the  State  of  New  York,  do  hereby  appoint  you. 


DEPARTURE    OF    COMMISSIONERS.  193 

Amasa  J.  Parker,  William  F.  Allen,  and  William 
Kelly,  Commissioners  for  and  in  behalf  of  the  State 
of  New  York,  and  do  authorize  and  direct  you  and  each 
of  you  forthwith  to  proceed  to  the  City  of  Wash 
ington  as  such  Commissioners,  there  to  inquire  into 
the  facts  and  circumstances  relating  to  such  arrests 
and  alleged  causes  thereof,  and  to  take  such  action 
in  the  premises  as  will  vindicate  the  laws  of  the  State 
and  the  rights  and  liberties  of  its  citizens,  to  the  end 
that  justice  may  be  done,  and  that  all  attempts  to  pre 
vent  soldiers  from  this  State,  in  service  of  the  United 
States,  from  voting,  or  to  defraud  them,  to  coerce  their 
action  in  voting,  or  to  detain  or  alter  the  votes  already 
cast  by  them  in  pursuance  of  the  laws  of  this  State, 
may  be  exposed  and  punished,  and  that  you  report 
your  proceedings  to  me  with  all  convenient  speed. 

"  HORATIO  SEYMOUR. 
"  D.  WILLIAMS,  JR.,  Private  Secretary." 

The  gentlemen  thus  appointed  at  once  repaired  to 
Washington,  reaching  that  city  on  the  31st  of  October, 
when  they  immediately  entered  upon  their  duties. 
They  sought  and  obtained  a  preliminary  interview  with 
the  Secretary  of  War,  in  which  thev  stated  their  bus 
iness,  after  which  they  submitted  to  him  the  following 
written  request : 

"  The  undersigned  request  the  Secretary  of  War 
that  he  will  give  them  an  order  to  receive  the  soldiers' 
votes  which  have  been  taken  and  are  now  in  the  cus 
tody  of  the  Provost-Marshal  at  the  New  York  agency 
in  this  city,  as  further  delay  to  forward  the  votes  may 
13 


194  LIFE    OF   HORATIO   SEYMOUR. 

make  it  too  late  to  use  them  at  the  approaching  elec 
tion. 

"  They  also  request  that  the  blanks  in  the  office  of 
the  New  York  agency  in  this  city  may  be  handed  over 
to  an  agent  of  the  State  of  New  York,  to  be  used,  and 
that  the  agents  may  be  permitted  to  proceed  and  take 
further  soldiers'  ballots,  to  be  forwarded  to  the  State 
of  New  York ;  and  that  a  military  officer  of  the  New 
York  volunteers  may  be  designated  by  the  Department 
to  attend  at  the  New  York  agency  to  administer  oaths 
to  voters. 

"  The  undersigned  also  request  a  copy  of  the  char 
ges  against  Col.  North,  and  the  others  in  custody. 

"  Also,  a  permit  for  the  undersigned  to  see  Colonel 
North  and  the  others  in  custody,  and  to  make  provi 
sion  for  furnishing  counsel  to  defend  them." 

The  Secretary  granted  the  requests,  and  gave  the 
necessary  orders  to  his  subordinates  for  their  com 
pliance.  Several  hundred  ballots  which  had  been  de 
tained  five  days,  which  were  all  that  had  been  seized, 
were  recovered,  and  the  Commissioners  were  allowed 
to  visit  the  victims  of  the  "War  Department  in  their 
prison.  Their  account  of  the  condition  in  which  they 
found  these  innocent  men  is  so  fair  a  picture  of  the 
mariner  in  which  the  Government  treated  its  politi 
cal  prisoners  during  the  war,  that  we  quote  the  fol 
lowing  from  their  report  to  the  Governor. 

"  The  undersigned  availed  themselves  of  the  permit 
granted  them  to  visit  Colonel  North,  M.  M.  Jones,  and 
Levi  Cohn.  They  found  them  in  the  c  Carroll  prison] 
in  close  confinement.  They  then  learned  that  Messrs. 


BRUTAL    TREATMENT    OF    PRISONERS.  195 

North  and  Colin  had  been  confined  together  in  one 
room,  and  had  not  been  permitted  to  leave  it  for  a  mo 
ment  during  the  four  days  they  had  been  prisoners,  even 
for  the  purpose  of  answering  the  calls  of  nature.  They 
had  been  supplied  with  meagre  and  coarse  prison  rations, 
to  be  eaten  in  their  room  where  they  constantly  breathed 
the  foul  atmosphere  arising  from  the  standing  odor. 
They  had  no  vessel  out  of  which  to  drink  water,  except 
the  one  furnished  them  for  purposes  of  urination.  They 
liad  but  one  chair,  and  had  slept  three  of  the  nights  of 
their  confinement  upon  a  sack  of  straw  on  the  floor. 
TJiey  had  not  been  permitted  to  see  a  newspaper,  and 
were  ignorant  of  the  cause  of  their  arrest.  All  com 
munication  between  them  and  the  outer  world  had  been 
denied  them,  and  no  friend  had  been  allowed  to  see 
tliem.  The  undersigned  complained  to  the  acting  super 
intendent,  who  seemed  humanely  disposed,  but  justi 
fied  his  course  by  the  prison  rules  and  the  instruction 
of  his  superiors.  The  undersigned  afterwards  com 
plained  of  the  treatment  of  these  persons  to  the  Judge 
Advocate,  and  also  the  Secretary  of  War  and  the 
Assistant  Secretary,  and  were  happy  to  learn  at  sub 
sequent  visits  to  the  prisoners  that  the  severities  were 
relaxed  and  their  condition  made  more  tolerable.  But 
at  neither  of  these  visits  made  to  the  prisoners  by  the 
undersigned,  were  they  permitted  to  see  them  without  a 
special  permit  and  only  in  the  presence  of  an  officer  of 
tlie  prison." 

The  Commissioners  next  made  application  to  the 
Judge  Advocate  for  a  copy  of  the  charges  against  Col 
onel  North,  but  without  success.  They  reported  to 
the  Governor  upon  this  point,  as  follows : 


196  LIFE    OF   HORATIO    SEYMOUR. 

"  From  the  best  investigations  the  undersigned 
have  been  able  to  make,  though  there  may  have  been 
irregularities,  they  have  found  no  evidence  that  any 
frauds,  either  against  any  elector  or  the  elective  fran 
chise,  have  been  committed  by  any  person  connected 
with  the  New  York  agency." 

The  Commissioners  then  delivered  to  the  Secretary 
of  War  the  following  communication  as  presenting 
their  case,  together  with  a  copy  of  their  commission, 
and  asked  that  the  papers  might  be  filed  with  the 
papers  of  the  War  Department. 

"  WILL  ABB'S  HOTEL,  ) 

WASHINGTON,  Nov.  1st.  ] 
"  To  Hox.  EDWIN  M.  STANTON,  Secretary  of  War : 

"  SIR  :  We  beg  leave  to  submit  to  and  leave  with 
you  a  copy  of  the  commission  from  his  Excellency  the 
Governor  of  the  State  of  New  York,  under  which  we 
act  in  beh/df  of  that  State.  From  it  you  will  perceive 
the  nature  of  the  duties  assigned  to  us. 

"  In  accordance  with  the  suggestion  made  by  your 
self  at  our  first  interview  yesterday,  we  take  the  lib 
erty  of  submitting  in  writing  our  claims  in  respect  to 
the  imprisonment  of  Col.  Samuel  North,  Mr.  Levi 
Cohn,  and  Mr.  Morven  M.  Jones,  now  and  since  Thurs 
day  last  in  close  confinement  in  the  Old  Capitol  prison. 

"  You  are  aware  that  they  were,  at  the  time  of 
their  arrest,  in  this  city  (Washington)  as  agents  of 
the  State  under  authority  from  the  proper  depart 
ments,  to  look  after  the  interests  and  care  for  the  sol 
diers  from  the  State  of  New  York  in  the  service  of 


LETTER    OF    THE   COMMISSIONERS.  197 

the  United  States.  They  were  not  in  the  military  or 
naval  service  of  the  United  States,  and  by  no  law  of 
which  we  are  aware  were  they  subject  to  the  martial 
and  military  laws  of  the  United  States,  or  to  the 
orders  of  the  War  Department. 

"  Since  our  interview  with  yourself  yesterday,  we 
have  seen  Col.  North  in.  the  presence  of  his  keeper. 
By  an  inadvertent  omission  in  our  permit,  we  did  not 
see  the  other  prisoners. 

"  We  have  also  had  interviews  with  Col.  Forster, 
the  Judge  Advocate,  having,  as  we  understand,  charge 

O  i  O7  7  O 

of  the  cases  of  the  persons  named,  and  have  endeav 
ored  to  learn  the  character  of  the  offences  charged 
against  Col.  North  and  the  others  named,  and  the 
nature  of  the  charges  made  against  them,  and  the 
character  of  the  proofs.  This  was  important  to  enable 
us  to  inquire  into  and  prevent  any  attempt  or  antici 
pated  frauds  upon  the  election  laws  of  our  State,  if 
any  such  were  threatened.  The  proofs  are  withheld 
from  us. 

"  The  charges,  so  far  as  we  can  learn,  are  not  for  the 
violation  of  any  law  of  the  United  States,  but  relate 
to  acts  purporting  to  have  been  done  under  the  law  of 
the  State  of  New  York  concerning  elections,  and 
making  provisions  for  soldiers  voting  in  that  State,  it 
being  claimed  that  certain  irregularities  have  intervened 
which  give  reason  to  suspect  that  frauds  and  forgeries 
are  intended,  and  may  be  consummated. 

"  The  suspected  and  anticipated  fraud  have  respects 
solely  to  the  election  laws  of  the  State  of  New  York, 
and  the  action  of  the  Government  in  making  the  ar- 


198  UKK    OF    HORATIO    SKY  MOT  K. 

rest  is  claimed  to  be  justified  upon  the  ground  that 
unless  thus  prevented  frauds  will  be  perpetrated  against 
the  ballot-box  at  the  approaching  election  in  the  State 
of  New  York. 

"  We  beg  leave,  in  behalf  of  the  State,  respectfully 
to  protest  against  this  jurisdiction,  assumed  as  well 
over  the  alleged  offence  as  ovev  the  persons  of  the  ac 
cused,  who  are  citizens  of  the  State,  in  its  employ, 
and  entitled  to  its  protection. 

"  The  proper  business  of  the  State  agency  is  greatly 
interfered  with  by  the  arrest  and  detention  of  the 
agents,  and  the  State  is  deprived  of  its  proper  juris 
diction  and  its  agents  and  citizens,  over  offences 
against  its  laws,  and  over  its  own  ballot-box,  and  the 
exercise  of  the  elective  franchise  within  its  limits. 

u  We  therefore  must  earnestly,  and  at  the  same 
time  most  respectfully,  demand,  as  we  think  we  may 
properly  do  in  behalf  of  the  State,  the  release  of  the 
persons  named  from  arrest,  that  they  may  resume 
their  business  at  the  agency,  if  the  Governor  shall  see 
tit  to  continue  them. 

"  We  also  ask  and  would  urge  a  compliance  with 
our  request  that  all  the  proofs  in  possession  of  the 
Government  of  the  United  States  tending  to  show  any 
wrongful  acts  or  irregularities  on  the  part  of  those 
agents  may  be  furnished  us,  that  we  may  report  them 
to  the  Governor  or  other  proper  authority,  to  the  end 
that  the  unfaithful  agonts  may  be  removed,  and  if 
guilty  of  any  offence,  that  they  may  be  properly  pun 
ished. 

"We   do  not   consider  this  a  proper  occasion  to 


U;TTI-:K  OF  Tin;  COMMISSIONER:;.  1!)!) 

the  question  of  jurisdiction,  but  it  maybe  fit 

and  proper  to  surest  some  grounds  upon    which    wi 
th  ink   the  arrests  arc   without  jurisdiction,  that  you 

iiuiy  have;  them  before  you    when    you    pass    upon    our 

demandfl. 

u  1st.  We  claim  that  the  milit:iry  authorities  of 
the  United  States  have  no  jurisdiction  of  the  persons 
of  the  individuals  named;  that  they  are  not  in  the 
military  service  of  the  United  States,  or  in  any  way 
subject  to  the  orders  of  the  military  authorities;  that 
they  :ire  the  servants  of  the  State  of  Nr-w  York,  sub 
ject  to  its  authority  and  amenable  to  its  laws. 

"  2d.  We  claim  that  the  acts  charged,  if  proved  to 
have-  been  committed,  are  not.  offences  against  any  law 

of  ( '<  or  any  rule  or  order  of  the  War  Depart 

ment  made  by  authority  of  law. 

"  3d.  We  claim  that  the  acts,  if  offences  at  all,  are 
only  offences  against  the  laws  of  the  State  of  New 
York,  and  punished  by  those  laws  only. 

"  4th.  The  papers,  whether  incomplete  and  irregu 
lar,  and  simply  giving  evidence,  as  is  claimed,  of  an 
intended  violation  of  the  laws  of  New  York,  or  com- 
plete  in  form,  although  forgeries  in  fact  (if  it  is  claimed 
there  are  any  such,  of  which  we  are  not  informed),  are 
evidence  of  no  crime  against  the  United  States,  and 
are  of  no  value  anywhere  except  in  New  York,  where 
alone  they  ran  Le  used  in  the  perpetration  of  any 
fraud,  and  that  fraud  would  be  against  the  sovereignty, 
the  laws,  and  the  people  of  that  State. 

"5th.  It  is  not  to  be  presumed  that  the  laws  of 
New  York  are  insufficient  to  guard  against  fraud  of  the 


200  LIFE    OF    HORATIO    SEYMOUR. 

character  anticipated,  or  that  they  would  be  so  badly 
administered  that  the  frauds  can  be  successfully  accom 
plished,  or  if  accomplished  that  the  guilty  would  go 
unpunished. 

"  But  if  this  were  not  so,  and  it  were  morally  cer 
tain  that  the  frauds  could  and  would  be  accomplished 
with  impunity,  the  General  Government  would  have 
no  jurisdiction  in  the  premises. 

"  6th.  The  alleged  fraudulent  act  would  not  be  an 
offence  against  the  soldier  in  the  field.  He  cannot  be 
deprived  of  his  proper  vote  by  any  number  of  for 
geries,  and  the  presentation  and  reception  of  fictitious 
votes  affect  the  whole  people  of  the  State  and  not  the 
soldier  alone. 

"  7th.  If  the  acts  alleged  could  deprive  the  soldier 
of  any  right,  it  would  be  a  right  pertaining  to  him  as 
a  citizen  and  not  as  a  soldier.  He  votes,  if  he  votes 
at  all,  as  a  citizen  of  the  State,  and  not  as  a  soldier  of 
the  United  States.  For  protection  in  his  rights  as  a 
citizen  he  looks  to  the  State  only. 

"  We  will  add  that  the  laws  of  the  State  provide 
that  parties  guilty  of  the  acts  of  which  the  parties 
named  are  suspected,  shall  upon  their  return  to  the 
State  be  punished. 

"  In  this  connection  we  would  refer  to  the  cases  of 
Ferry  and  Donohue,  who,  we  learn,  have  been  re 
cently  tried  at  Baltimore  for  acts  to  some  extent  of  the 
same  character  as  those  charged  upon  Messrs.  North, 
Cohn,  and  Jones. 

"  Ferry  and  Donohue  were,  at  the  time  of  their 
arrest,  in  Baltimore,  in  the  capacity  of  State  agents, 


LETTER    OF    THE    COMMISSIONERS.  201 

under  authority  from  Governor  Seymour,  and  if  we 
are  not  entirely  mistaken  in  our  views  of  the  case,  their 
trial  was  a  nullity,  for  want  of  jurisdiction  in  the  court 
or  commission  by  which  they  were  tried. 

"  We  therefore  ask  that  these  men  be  surrendered 
by  the  United  States  Government  to  the  State  Govern 
ment,  that  they  may  be  tried,  and  if  guilty  of  any 
offence  against  the  laws,  be  suitably  punished. 

"  Permit  us  also  respectfully  to  suggest,  without 
desiring  to  reflect  upon  any  of  the  agents  of  the  De 
partments,  that  the  haste  with  which  such  trials  were 
pressed  through,  and  their  ex  parte  character,  the 
accused  being  without  counsel,  especially  in  a  time  of 
intense  partisan  feeling  like  the  present,  and  before  a 
court  of  supposed  party  bias,  without  at  all  bringing 
in  question  the  integrity  of  the  court,  may  well  lead 
the  public  to  distrust  the  fairness  of  the  trial.  We 
submit  that  if  jurisdiction  of  the  alleged  offences  is  to 
be  assumed  and  exercised  by  a  military  tribunal,  it 
should  not  be  the  means  of  depriving  the  accused  of 
the  presumption  of  innocence,  or  the  aid  of  counsel,  or 
of  ample  time  to  prepare  for  the  defence. 

"  The  undersigned  beg  leave  to  ask  for  an  early 
reply  ;  and  are,  respectfully, 

"  Your  obedient  servants, 

"  AMASA  J.  PARKER, 
"  W.  F.  ALLEN, 
"  WILLIAM  KELLY." 

The  Secretary  of  War  referred  this  communication 
to  the  Judge  Advocate  General,  Mr.  Holt,  The  Com- 


202  LIFE    OF   HORATIO    SEYMOUR. 

missioners  then  asked  that  the  trial  might  be  postponed 
until  after  the  election ;  and  that  if  their  request  for 
the  surrender  of  the  prisoners  to  the  State  of  New  York 
should  be  refused,  they  might  be  released  on  parole. 
On  the  same  day,  the  Secretary  of  War  replied  to  the 
Commissioners,  through  Colonel  Hardie,  of  the  De 
partment,  that  Judge  Holt  had  reported  on  the  com 
munication  given  above,  as  follows  : 

"  The  within  paper  is  not  regarded  as  presenting 
any  legal  grounds  for  postponing  the  trials  referred  to. 
It  is  believed  that  the  cases  should  be  allowed  to  take 
the  ordinary  coarse.  *  *  *  It  is  expected  that  the 
trials  of  these  parties  will  be  proceeded  with  to-morrow. 
No  reason  is  perceived,  therefore,  for  paroling  them." 

"  Such  being  the  view  of  the  Chief  of  the  Bureau 
of  Military  Justice,"  continued  Colonel  Hardie,  "  the 
Secretary  of  War  does  not  feel  authorized  to  pursue  a 
different  course  on  the  applications  presented  by  you." 

After  some  further  correspondence  with  the  Gov 
ernment,  the  Commissioners  left  the  city  for  Albany. 
They  wrote  to  the  Governor,  reviewing  their  course,  and 
concluded  their  report  as  follows  : 

"  Under  these  circumstances,  after  having  retained 
counsel  for  the  persons  accused,  the  labors  of  the  under 
signed  are  brought  to  a  close,  their  power  is  exhausted, 
and  nothing  remains  but  to  report  their  proceedings.  . 

"The  demands  made  in  behalf  of  the  State  of  New 
York  are  thus  refused.  The  persons  arrested  are  to  be 
summarily  tried  before  a  military  commission,  clearly, 
in  our  opinion,  without  jurisdiction,  in  violation  of 
their  personal  rights,  in  usurpation  of  the  just  powers 


PEESECUTION   OF    PRISONERS.  203 

of  our  State,  and  in  the  midst  of  an  exciting  political 
contest ;  and  though,  up  to  this  time,  the  morning  of 
Thursday  the  3d  of  November,  when  we  are  leaving 
Washington,  no  charges  have  been  served  on  the  ac 
cused,  and  perhaps  none  have  yet  been  framed,  yet 
we  are  told  the  trial  shall  proceed  immediately,  and 
that  the  time  asked  for  to  procure  witnesses  for  the 
defence  shall  not  be  afforded." 

This  "  speedy  trial "  was  prolonged  by  the  Govern 
ment  for  many  weeks,  and  the  victims  of  the  tyranny 
of  the  War  Department  were  subjected  to  an  imprison 
ment  of  three  months,  during  which  time  they  suffered 
many  privations  and  hardships.  The  Court  or  Com 
mission  acquitted  Colonel  North,  and  Messrs.  Cohn 
and  Jones,  of  the  charges  brought  against  them,  com 
pletely  exonerating  them  from  all  blame  in  their  con 
duct;  but  the  Government  arbitrarily  forced  them,  with 
the  full  proof  of  their  innocence  in  its  possession,  to  sub 
mit  to  their  barbarous  imprisonment  for  nineteen  days 
after  the  verdict  of  the  Court  ivas  formally  rendered. 

The  Republicans  labored  hard  to  induce  the  people 
of  the  State  to  believe  that  Governor  Seymour  had  en 
couraged  and  assisted  certain  parties  in  their  efforts  to 
obtain  fraudulent  soldiers'  votes ;  but  the  trial  of  Col. 
North,  and  his  companions,  showed  the  utter  falsity 
of  these  charges.  It  was  also  shown  that  the  Governor 
endeavored,  by  every  means  in  his  power,  to  have  a 
full  and  fair  vote  polled  by  the  troops ;  and  that  he 
urged  the  Secretary  of  State,  a  Republican,  to  appoint 
agencies  u  consisting  of  one  Democrat  and  one  Repub 
lican  to  visit  the  army  together  and  receive  the  soldiers' 


204  LIFE    OF    HORATIO    SEYMOUR. 

votes  in  a  public  manner,  so  as  to  avoid  all  possibility 
of  fraud,  and  that  no  notice  was  taken  of  Governor 
Seymour's  letters.  The  inference  that  the  Republicans 
preferred  separate  secret  action,  to  aid  in  obtaining 
fraudulent  votes,  is  clearly  to  be  drawn  from  the 
recorded  evidence  on  file  in  the  War  Department.  The 
facilities  for  accomplishing  such  purposes  were  in  pro 
portion  to  the  number  of  Republican  commissioned 
officers.  Although  it  is  well ,  known  that  two  thirds 
of  the  rank  and  file  of  the  army  were  Democrats,  the 
Republicans  held  three  fourths  of  all  the  commissions. 
In  this  lay  the  power  of  that  party  to  control  what 
should  be  returned  as  the  soldier-vote.  Governor  Sey 
mour's  action  on  this  occasion  was  honorable  and  just, 
and  above  suspicion.11  * 

Fortunately  for  Mr.  Seymour,  his  acts  have  all  been 
open  and  frank.  They  have  never  required  conceal 
ment,  and  he  has  never  desired  any  for  them,  and  when 
his  enemies  assail  him  he  has  only  to  point  to  them  for 
his  vindication.  . 

Mr.  Seymour  retired  from  the  Governor's  chair  on 
the  1st  of  January,  1865,  and  was  succeeded  by  Gov 
ernor  Fenton.  From  that  time  he  devoted  himself 
to  his  private  affairs,  presenting  himself  to  the 
people  for  no  public  office.  He  gave  his  best  ef 
forts,  however,  to  the  cause  of  the  Democratic  party 
in  his  State,  and  contributed  in  no  slight  degree  to  the 
glorious  victories  which  have  marked  the  recent  his 
tory  of  the  New  York  Democracy. 

In  the  Democratic  State  Convention,  which  met  in 
*  Democracy  in  the  United  States,  p.  368. 


TRIBUTE    TO    PRESIDENT    JOHNSON.  205 

March,  1868,  he  delivered  an  address  of  great  elo 
quence  and  force,  in  which  he  paid  the  following  tribute 
to  that  lion-hearted  defender  of  the  Constitution  who 
now  fills  the  Executive  Chair  of  the  nation  : 

"  I  have  no  political  prejudices  in  favor  of  Mr. 
Johnson.  I  have  never  seen  him.  He  is  not  one  I 
helped  to  place  in  office,  nor  have  I  ever  advised  him 
or  been  consulted  by  him  as  to  his  policy.  I  know  he 
has  been  cheated  and  betrayed  by  those  about  him,  who 
plotted  his  destruction  from  the  outset.  But  while  he 
has  been  most  unhappy  in  his  friends,  no  man  has  been 
so  fortunate  in  his  enemies.  They  have  given  him  a 
high  place  in  history  as  one  who  suffered  for  the  rights 
of  the  American  people.  And  when  he  shall  go  to  his 
final  account,  and  his  friends  seek  in  clear,  terse,  and 
lasting  terms  to  tell  that  he  was  a  man  who  loved  his 
country,  and  was  hated  by  the  corrupt  and  treasonable, 
they  have  but  to  chisel  upon  his  tombstone  that  he 
was  impeached  by  this  House  of  Representatives  and 
condemned  by  this  Seriate." 

This  Convention  nominated  Mr.  Seymour  as  a 
delegate  from  his  district  to  the  National  Democratic 
Convention  to  meet  in  New  York  on  the  4th  of  July, 
1868. 

On  the  25th  of  June,  1868,  a  mass  meeting  of  the 
•Jackson  Central  Association,  and  the  Democracy  in 
general  of  New  York,  was  held  at  Cooper  Institute. 
The  immense  hall  was  crowded  to  excess,  as  it  was 
known  that  Governor  Seymour  would  address  the  meet 


ing. 


Shortly   after  eight  o'clock,  Mr.  Thomas  J.  Crea- 


206  LIFE    OF   HORATIO    SEYMOUR. 

mer,  the  President  of  the  Association,  rose  and  intro 
duced  the  orator  of  the  evening,  Ex-Governor  Seymour. 
Mr.  Seymour  was  received  with  enthusiastic  applause. 
He  said : 

"We  see  in  every  part  of  our  land  proofs  of  a 
wide-spread  change  in  political  feeling.  As  the  evils 
of  misgovernment  unfold  themselves,  the  best  men  of 
the  Republican  Party  are  driven  from  its  ranks.  At 
its  late  Convention  its  policy  was  shaped  in  a  great 
degree  by  those  who  are  most  violent  in  their  pas 
sions  and  most  brutal  in  the  policy  they  urge  upon  the 
people.  While  the  ablest  Republicans  refuse  to  go  on 
with  a  party  which  tramples  upon  the  judiciary, 
usurps  power,  and  is  unsettling  all  ideas  of  political 
morality,  and  unhinging  all  the  business  machinery  of 
our  land,  we  are  laboring  under  some  embarrassments 
from  the  great  volume  of  the  change  in  our  favor. 
Those  who  are  rallying  around  the  standard  of  con 
stitutional  rights  have  heretofore  held  conflicting  views 
with  regard  to  the  events  of  the  past  eight  years, 
and  the  question  is,  how  can  we  set  this  great  majority 
in  the  field  so  arrayed  that  they  can  drive  out  of 
place  the  disciplined  and  desperate  horde  of  office-hold 
ers  who  now  misgovern  our  country  ?  This  is  the 
only  problem  to  be  settled.  The  American  people  are 
disgusted  with  the  conduct  of  the  Congressional  party. 
Can  we  mark  out  a  policy  which  will  unite  the  major 
ity  of  our  standard?  This  can  only  be  done  by  a 
thoughtful,  forbearing,  unselfish  course.  At  the  same 
time  we  must  be  outspoken  and  must  confront  all  the 
questions  which  perplex  us.  Men  look  forward  with 


SPEECH   AT    COOPER   INSTITUTE.  207 

hope  and  fear  to  the  action  of  the  National  Conven 
tion  on  the  Fourth  of  July.  I  shall  not  speak  of  can 
didates.  Let  the  claims  of  each  one  be  considered 
in  a  courteous  and  kindly  spirit,  and  let  us  take 
care  that  no  personal  partisanship  shall  draw  us  aside 
from  our  duty  to  our  country.  We  should  support, 
with  hearty  zeal,  every  upholder  of  constitutional 
rights.  It  is  upon  discord  in  our  ranks  that  our 
opponents  build  their  hopes.  A  party  born  of  strife 
naturally  looks  to  selfish  passions  to  keep  it  alive. 
Let  this  hope  be  crushed  out  by  our  action.  It  will,  in 
the  present  state  of  our  country,  be  an  unholy  thing 
to  go  into  the  July  Convention  with  any  purpose  which 
shall  not  have  in  view  the  rescue  of  our  Government 
from  the  men  who  now  have  it  in  hand.  The  next 
election  will  be  controlled  by  thoughtful,  business  and 
laboring  me^.  No  party  can  gain  their  support  unless 
its  tone  and  temper  show  that  it  seeks  to  get  our  coun 
try  out  of  its  troubled  condition.  Appeals  to  preju 
dice  and  passion  will  have  no  weight.  These  were 
tried  at  the  late  Republican  Convention.  I  need  not 
say  with  what  cold  indifference  they  have  been  received 
by  the  public.  The  quiet,  watchful  citizens  who 
seek  for  the  protection  of  a  wise  administration  of  gov 
ernment,  now  turn  their  eyes  upon  us.  We  must  look 
to  it  that  we  take  no  position  which  will  not  bear  the 
closest  scrutiny. 

"  The  financial  condition  of  our  country  forces  it 
self  upon  our  attention.  Among  the  evil  results  of 
our  moneyed  and  tax  policy,  the  most  hurtful  is  the 
jealousies  it  has  made  between  the  sections  of  our  coun- 


208  LIFE    OF   HOEATIO    SEYMOUE. 

try.  It  has  divided  our  Union  into  debtor  and  cred 
itor  States.  It  builds  up  favored  interests  and  crushes 
out  the  industry  of  other  classes.  It  taxes  toil  and  lets 
some  forms  of  wealth  go  free  from  the  cost  of  the  Gov 
ernment.  It  gives  to  labor  and  business  a  debased 
money  and  to  the  untaxed  bond-holder  sterling  coin. 
These  curses  upon  honest  industry  have  grown  up  like 
ill  weeds  among  the  sacred  interests  of  contracts, 
trusts,  and  the  fruits  of  labor,  until  we  are  troubled 
how  to  root  out  the  tares  sown  by  evil  spirits,  without 
killing  the  crops  planted  and  tilled  by  honest  industry. 
Lest  it  should  be  felt  that  what  I  have  to  say  on  this 
point  springs  from  any  views  about  the  candidates  or 
action  of  the  National  Convention,  I  will  go  back  to 
the  first  years  of  the  civil  war,  when  the  Democratic 
Party  of  New  York  took  its  position  upon  the  finan 
cial  policy  of  Government.  In  the  elections  of  1862 
it  was  discussed  before  our  people.  We  then  pointed 
out  the  great  evils  which  now  trouble  us  as  the  sure 
results  of  the  errors  of  those  who  were  shaping  our 
moneyed  system.  To  show  clearly  how  we  then  tried 
to  avoid  these  dangers,  let  me  read  some  passages  from 
the  messages  of  a  Democratic  Governor  to  the  Legis 
lature,  in  January,  1863.  In  his  position  he  spoke, 
after  a  general  consultation,  for  the  great  party  which 
had  just  placed  him  in  the  Executive  chair.  Positions 
taken  many  years  ago  could  have  no  reference  to  the 
personal  wishes  or  purposes  of  this  day.  I  will  speak 
of  the  questions  which  now  agitate  our  country  in  the 
light  of  the  warning  we  then  uttered.  In  the  Con 
vention  of  1862,  the  nominee  of  the  Democratic  Party 


SPEECH  AT  COOPER  INSTITUTE.          209 

of  the  State  of  New  York,  for  the  office  of  Governor, 
used  the  words : 

c  The  vast  debt  growing  out  of  the  war  will  give 
rise  to  new  and  angry  discussions.  It  will  be  held 
almost  exclusively  in  a  few  Atlantic  States.  Look 
upon  the  map  of  the  Union,  and  see  how  small  is  the 
territory  in  which  it  will  be  owned.  We  are  to  be 
divided  into  creditor  and  debtor  States,  and  the  last 
will  have  a  vast  preponderance  of  power  and  strength. 
Unfortunately,  there  is  no  taxation  upon  this  national 
debt,  and  its  share  is  thrown  off  upon  other  property. 
It  is  held  where  many  of  the  Government  contracts 
have  been  executed,  and  where,  in  some  instances,  gross 
frauds  have  been  practised.  It  is  held  largely  where 
the  constitution  gives  a  disproportional  share  of  polit 
ical  power.1 

"In  his  message  to  the  Legislature,  in  1863,  the 
Democratic  Governor,  speaking  of  the  public  credit, 
foreshadowed  our  dishonored  condition  at  the  time  in 
these  words : 

4  Extravagance  and  corruption  are  violations  of  the 
faith  pledged  to  the  public  creditors.  The  money 
loaned  to  the  National  Treasury  was  not  brought  for 
ward  at  a  time  of  peace,  but  in  a  time  of  doubt  and 
danger.  These  claims  are  held  by  the  rich  and  poor. 
The  amount  held  by  corporations  represents  the  inter 
ests  of  women  and  children,  the  aged  and  infirm.  The 
right  of  our  soldiers  to  demand  integrity  is  of  the 
most  sacred  character.  A  fearful  crime  will  be  done 
by  those  who  suffer  national  bankruptcy  to  turn  into 
dust  and  ashes  the  pensioners'  bounties  thus  gained  at 
14 


210  LIFE    OF   HORATIO    SEYMOUR. 

the  cost  of  blood  and  health  and  exposure.  It  is 
worse  that  a  government  should  be  overturned  by  cor 
ruption  than  by  violence.  A  virtuous  people  will  re 
gain  their  rights  if  torn  from  them,  but  there  is  no 
hope  for  those  who  suffer  corruption  to  sop  and  rot 
away  the  fabric  of  their  freedom.' 

"  These  are  the  positions  we  took  years  ago  in  the 
darkest  hour  of  the  war ;  these  are  the  positions  we 
hold  now,  and  they  cover  every  question  of  public  and 
party  agitation.  To  show  the  anxiety  we  felt  to  avoid 
all  sectional  controversies,  and  our  sense  of  the  value 
of  intercourse  with  the  Western  States,  I  will  quote 
from  the  message  of  the  same  Democratic  Governor 
in  1864 : 

;  A  deep  interest  is  felt  with  regard  to  our  com 
merce  with  the  Western  States.  Its  growing  value 
and  the  loss  of  our  trade  with  the  Southern  States 
makes  us  dependent  for  commercial  prosperity  upon 
that  section  of  our  country  which  sustains  our  domes 
tic  and  foreign  commerce,  and  which  adds  so  largely  to 
the  imports  and  business  prosperity  of  the  City  of  New 
York.  This  State  will  be  untrue  to  itself  if  it  fails  to 
control  this  great  source  of  wealth  by  a  vigorous  and 
generous  policy.  Rather  than  suffer  its  diversion  into 
other  channels,  we  should  strike  off  all  tolls  upon  Wes 
tern  produce.  New  York  should  exhibit  that  degree 
of  interest  in  all  measures  designed  to  benefit  the  West 
which  will  show  our  purpose  to  keep  up  the  most 
intimate  commercial  relationship  with  that  portion  of 
our  Union,1 

"  These  words  are  quoted — not  because  the  words 


SPEECH   AT    COOPER   INSTITUTE.  211 

of  any  one  man  are  of  consequence,  but  to  show  the 
record  of  the  great  party  which  inspired  them.  The 
Democratic  Party  saw  the  evil  in  the  beginning ;  they 
are  the  party  to  cure  it.  They  have  always  kept  our 
public  finances  cut  of  confusion,  when  in  power. 
Years  ago  we  pointed  out  the  wrong  done  to  the  West 
by  making  them  send  nearly  twice  as  many  soldiers  to 
the  war  from  each  Congressional  war  district  as  were 
demanded  from  Vermont  or  Massachusetts,  while  the 
currency  given  to  them  under  the  banking  system  was 
not  one  quarter  as  great,  although  the  Western  States 
needed  currency  the  most.  The  act  authorizing  the 
banks  of  New  York  to  organize  under  a  general  Bank 
ing  law  was  not  signed,  because  the  currency  was  un 
justly  divided,  and  because  the  system  made  a  useless 
tax  upon  the  people  of  $18,000,000  in  gold  each  year. 
Thus  we  tried  at  an  early  day  to  save  our  country  from 
sectional  questions.  In  vain  we  warned  the  East  and 
West  against  an  unwise  policy.  The  East  and  West 
upheld  the  policy  of  the  Administration,  and  we  have 
now  to  deal  with  the  results.  What  are  some  of  them  ? 
All  of  the  States  are  heavily  taxed,  but  some  of  them 
get  back  as  much,  some  more  than  they  pay  out,  while 
others  get  but  little.  In  the  case  of  the  heaviest  item 
of  expense — the  military  and  naval  system — the  West 
ern  States  get  nothing  back  except  the  cost  of  Indian 
war,  while  large  sums  are  spent  at  the  South.  The  next 
heaviest  item  is  the  interest  on  the  debt.  The  West 
get  but  a  small  sum  back ;  most  of  it  is  paid  to  the 
North  Atlantic  States.  The  indirect  taxes,  tariffs,  are 
still  more  hurtful  to  the  West,  as  they  are  practically 


212  LIFE   OF   HORATIO    SEYMOUR. 

premiums  given  to  Eastern  manufacturers.  The  divis 
ion  of  the  favors  of  Government  in  distributing  bank 
ing  currency  is  startling  in  its  injustice.  But  the  most 
offensive  distinction  is  that  of  having  two  kinds  of 
currency.  Good  money  for  the  bondholder,  and  bad 
money  for  the  laborer,  the  pensioner  and  the  business 
man.  Every  paper  dollar  now  put  out  is  a  Govern 
ment  falsehood,  for  it  claims  to  be  worth  more  than  its 
real  value,  and  it  goes  about  the  country  defrauding 
the  laborer,  the  pensioner,  the  mechanic  and  the  far 
mer.  An  indignant  chief  of  one  of  the  tribes  from 
whom  we  bought  land  at  an  early  day  by  a  pledge  of 
moneyed  annuity,  said  the  Government  was  a  cheat. 
It  got  land  from  the  Indians  by  promising  them  so 
many  dollars  each  year,  that  now  it  paid  them  in 
money  which  was  a  lie,  which  said  on  its  face  it  was  a 
dollar  when  it  was  but  little  more  than  a  half  dollar. 
The  red  man  told  the  simple  truth.  Of  all  the  devices 
to  cheat  honest  labor,  to  paralyze  industry,  to  degrade 
public  morals  and  to  turn  business  pursuits  into  reck 
less  gambling,  none  has  been  so  hurtful  as  a  shifting 
standard  of  value,  a  debased  and  lying  currency.  I 
have  not  thus  set  forth  the  condition  of  our  country 
for  the  purpose  of  indulging  in  invectives  against  the 
party  in  power,  but  for  another  object.  Many  Re 
publicans  who  admit  the  wrong  doing  of  their  leaders 
say  that  we  have  no  plans  for  the  relief  of  our  coun 
try,  that  pointing  out  wrongs  is  of  no  use  unless  we 
can  point  out  remedies.  This  we  propose  to  do,  and 
we  probe  the  ulcers  to  the  quick  because  we  mean  to 
meet  the  case  and  cure  the  malady.  Among  other 


SPEECH  AT  COOPER  INSTITUTE.          213 

things  which  have  caused  anxiety  in  the  disordered 
state  of  our  Union,  is  the  fact  that  our  Government 
bonds  are  mainly  held  in  one  section  of  our  country. 
The  labor  of  the  West  puts  its  earnings  in  a  large 
degree  into  lands,  which  are  tax-burdened.  The  labor 
of  the  East  puts  its  earnings  into  savings  banks,  life 
insurance,  or  in  other  forms  of  moneyed  investment. 
Thus  they  are  deeply  interested  in  Government  bonds. 
The  amount  in  savings  banks  in  this  State  alone,  is 
$140,000,000.  This  shows  that  there  must  be  at  least 
$300,000,000  of  money  thus  deposited  in  all  the  States. 
The  average  of  the  deposits  in  1867  in  the  State  of 
New  York  was  $270.  The  number  of  depositors  in 
the  State  of  New  York  is  about  five  hundred  thousand 
(487,479,)  and  in  the  City  they  number  more  than  one 
third  of  the  population.  This  will  make  the  number 
of  depositors  in  the  Union  more  than  1,800,000.  In 
the  State  of  Connecticut,  in  1865,  one  quarter  of  its 
population  had  deposits  in  the  savings  banks.  It  is 
now  usual  for  men  of  small  property  to  insure  their 
lives.  The  number  of  policies  given  out  by  all  the  life 
insurance  companies  are  about  four  hundred  and  fifty 
thousand,  and  the  amount  of  insurance  about  one 
thousand  and  two  hundred  and  fifty  millions.  The 
money  invested  is  held  as  a  sacred  trust,  as  it  is  a  fund 
laid  aside  for  their  families  when  the  insurers  die.  All 
of  the  funds  of  savings  banks  and  the  insurance  com 
panies  are  not  put  in  Government  bonds,  but  they 
hold  an  amount  which  would  cripple  or  ruin  them  if 
the  bonds  are  not  paid,  or  if  they  are  paid  in  debased 
paper.  If  we  add  the  trusts  for  widows  and  orphans 


214  LIFE    OF   HOEATIO    SEYMOUR. 

we  find  2.500,000  persons  are  interested  in  Govern 
ment  bonds,  who  are  not  capitalists,  and  who  are  com 
pulsory  owners,  at  present  prices,  under  the  operations 
of  our  laws.  There  is  a  fear  that  this  state  of  things 
will  make  a  clashing  of  interests  between  the  labor  of 
the  East  and  the  labor  of  the  West.  It  is  clear  that 
our  opponents  hope  that  it  will  hinder  us  from  going 
into  the  contest  with  compact  ranks  and  with  one  bat 
tle-cry. 

However  alarming  this  aspect  may  be,  I  am  sure 
there  is  a  policy  to  be  marked  out  which  will  harmo 
nize  all  jarring  interests.  It  can  be  shown  that  the 
dangers  spring  from  an  unwise  conduct  of.  public  af 
fairs.  They  have  come  -up  like  fogs  at  night  from  foul 
fens ;  they  rise  from  unwholesome  darkened  counsels, 
and  will  fade  away  before  the  light  and  life  of  a  clear 
and  honest  policy.  Is  it  true  that  the  laborer,  the  pen 
sioner,  the  tax-payers  and  the  bondholders  have  con 
flicting  interests  which  will  hinder  them  from  acting 
together  in  upholding  constitutional  right  ?  Why  are 
the  tax-payers  laboring  under  a  debt  which  bears  an 
interest  of  six  per  cent,  while  other  Governments  can 
borrow  money  at  three  per  cent,  and  at  this  low  in 
terest  their  bonds  sell  for  better  prices  than  ours? 
Why  is  the  laborer,  the  farmer,  the  mechanic  and  the 
pensioner  paid  in  bad  money,  so  that  they  get  one- 
quarter  less  than  they  are  entitled  to  on  every  paper 
dollar  paid  to  them  ?  Why  is  the  bondholder  wronged 
by  the  tainted  credit  of  the  Government,  so  that  he 
cannot  sell  his  bond  for  as  much  by  one-third  as  the 
citizen  of  Great  Britain  gets  for  the  bond  of  his  Gov- 


SPEECH    AT    COOPER    INSTITUTE.  215 

ernment,  which  bears  a  lower  interest ;  and  why  is  his 
claim  made  odious  in  the  eyes  of  the  people  by  the 
fact  that  his  interest  is  paid  in  specie,  while  they  are 
compelled  to  take  debased  paper  ?  It  is  clear  to  every 
thoughtful  man  that  public  safety  and  honor  will  not 
admit  of  our  having  two  kinds  of  currency  for  any 
length  of  time.  We  must  have  a  uniform  currency  for 
all  classes.  There  is  but  one  question  to  be  settled. 
Shall  our  currency  be  uniformly  good  or  uniformly  bad  ? 
Are  we  to  force  the  bondholder  to  take  bad  money  ? 
Are  we  to  have  an  honest  standard  of  value  for  all,  or 
is  industry,  enterprise  and  morality  to  be  perplexed 
and  disordered  by  a  shifting  and  dishonest  standard  ? 
If  it  can  be  shown  that  all  these  evils  under  which  we 
labor,  spring  from  a  common  source,  then  it  is  clear 
that  all  classes  should  join  in  a  common  effort  to  root 
out  the  policy  which  sheds  such  wide-spread  curses. 
There  are  two  ways  of  making  our  paper  money  as 
good  as  coin.  One  is  to  contract  its  volume  by  calling 
in  the  legal  tenders.  This  will  make  them  scarce  and 
will  force  a  specie  standard,  but  it  will  carry  ruin  and 
bankruptcy  into  every  part  of  our  country.  It  will 
bear  down  the  prices  of  property  and  of  labor.  It  is  a 
policy  which  cannot  be  carried  through,  for  the  country 
will  not  consent  to  it.  There  is  another  way  of  lifting 
up  our  greenbacks  to  par  which  will  not  harm  any,  but 
will  help  all,  which  will  bring  back  confidence,  will  re 
vive  business  and  enterprise,  will  lighten  taxation,  will 
give  to  labor  honest  money  and  will  do  justice  to  the 
public  creditor.  And  that  way  is  to  give  to  all  the 
world  full  faith  in  the  honor  and  wisdom  of  the  Ameri- 


216  LIFE    OF    HORATIO    SEYMOUR. 

can  Government.  Our  paper  money  is  not  its  par  in 
coin,  because  the  national  credit  is  dishonored.  How 
can  the  notes  of  our  Government,  which  pay  no  in 
terest,  be  worth  their  face  in  gold  or  silver,  when  the 
bonds  of  Government,  which  pay  six  per  cent,  interest, 
are  worth  only  eighty  cents  on  the  dollar  ?  You  can 
not  make  the  notes  put  out  by  banks  worth  more  than 
the  bonds  which  secure  these  notes.  It  is  a  sad  thing 
to  say  that  our  credit  is  dishonest  in  the  markets  of 
the  world,  but  it  is  true,  and  it  must  be  said,  if  we  are 
to  find  a  remedy.  It  is  humiliating  to  find  that  when 
Great  Britain  borrows  $1,000  for  twenty  years,  it  pays 
the  lender  but  $1,700,  when,  if  we  make  the  same 
loan,  we  have  to  pay  $2,700  to  the  lender.  If  we  wish 
to  help  the  tax-payer — if  we  wish  to  get  at  the  cause 
of  debased  currency  in  the  hands  of  the  laborer — we 
must  first  find  out  why  our  credit  is  dishonored ;  for 
it  is  a  tainted  credit  that  sinks  alike  the  value  of  bonds, 
of  greenbacks  and  bank  notes.  Make  the  credit  of  the 
United  States  as  good  as  that  of  Great  Britain,  or  of  a 
merchant  in  good  standing,  or  of  a  mortgage  on  a  farm, 
and  our  troubles  would  disappear.  If  we  make  our 
paper  money  good  by  a  harsh  system  of  contraction, 
we  shall  cripple  the  energies  of  the  country  and  make 
bankruptcy  and  ruin.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  we  de 
base  the  currency  by  unwise  issues,  we  shall  equally 
perplex  business  and  destroy  sober  industry,  and  make 
all  prices  mere  matters  of  gambling  tricks  and  chances. 
This  will  end  as  it  did  in  the  Southern  Confederacy. 
At  the  outset  the  citizens  of  Kichmond  went  to  market 
with  their  money  in  their  vest  pockets  and  brought 


SPEECH    AT    COOPER    INSTITUTE.  217 

back  their  dinners  in  their  baskets,  in  the  end  they  took 
their  money  in  their  baskets  and  took  home  their  dinners 
in  their  vest  pockets.  Make  our  money  good  by  an 
honest  and  wise  course,  and  when  this  is  done  it  will 
be  worth  twenty-five  per  cent,  more  than  it  is  now, 
which  will  be  equal  to  an  increase  of  one-quarter  in  the 
amount  of  currency.  Business  will  be  strengthened, 
industry  will  be  encouraged,  prices  will  be  regular,  and 
men  will  then  dare  to  go  on  with  useful  enterprises. 
We  find  right  here  the  cause  of  our  troubles,  perplexi 
ties  and  national  disgrace.  Our  credit  is  tainted.  But 
for  that  we  could  borrow  money  as  Britain  does,  at 
three  per  cent.,  and  cut  down  taxation.  But  for  that 
our  paper  money  would  be  good,  and  gold  and  silver 
would  glitter  in  the  hands  of  labor.  But  for  that  fact 
there  would  be  no  question  how  the  bonds  are  to  be 
paid,  and  we  never  should  have  heard  of  the  green 
back  issue.  But  for  the  national  discredit  business 
men  would  not  be  perplexed,  and  the  disquiet  and 
fears  which  now  disturb  the  public  mind  would  not 
exist.  Now  if  this  dishonor  cannot  Be  helped,  we  must 
bear  it  in  the  best  way  we  can,  and  we  must  get  on  with 
the  sectional  and  social  and  political  troubles  growing 
out  of  it  until  time  and  events  shall  bring  some  cure. 
But  if  it  can  be  shown  to  be  the  work  of  those  in  power, 
then  all  sections,  all  classes  and  all  interests  should 
unite  and  turn  them  out.  Fortunately,  we  have  offi 
cial  statements  to  guide  us  in  our  inquiries.  We  take 
the  showing, of  the  very  portion  under  impeachment  to 
show  where  the  guilt  lies. 

"  To  show  the  waste  of  those  in  power  let  us  com- 


218  LIFE    OF   HORATIO    SEYMOUR. 

pare  the  cost  of  Government  during  the  four  years  of 
peace  before  1861,  and  the  four  years  of  peace  follow 
ing  the  1st  of  July,  1865.  For  the  fiscal  year  ending 
July  1st,  1869,  I  will  take  the  estimate  just  made  by 
the  Committee  of  Ways  and  Means.  Bear  in  mind 
that  this  is  the  best  promise  the  Republicans  can  make 
on  the  eve  of  a  Presidential  election.  It  will  prove  to 
be  many  millions  short  of  what  they  will  spend,  but  we 
will  give  them  the  benefit  of  their  own  statements. 
After  Ihe  close  of  the  war,  and  up  to  the  1st  of  July, 
1865,  the  War  Department  spent  $165,000,000— which 
is  $75,000,000  more  than  was  spent  by  the  same  de 
partment  in  the  four  years  of  Mr.  Folk's  administration, 
and  which  included  the  cost  of  the  Mexican  war.  It 
took  nearly  twice  as  much  to  stop  a  war  under  Re 
publican  policy  as  it  did  to  carry  on  a  war  under  the 
Democratic  management.  But  I  will  not  take  this 
$165,000,000  into  account.  Let  us  close  the  war. 
Since  July  1st,  1865,  about  three  months  after  the 
surrender  of  Lee,  up  to  July  1st,  1868,  the  cost  of 
Government  will  be,  by  official  reports  and  estimates, 
$820,390,208.  Up  to  July  1st,  1869,  by  the  estimate 
of  the  Chairman  of  the  Committee  of  Ways  and  Means, 
it  will  be  $197,973,366,  making  the  cost  of  Govern 
ment  for  four  years  $1,018,363,574.  This  does  not  in 
clude  one  cent  paid  or  to  be  paid  for  interest  or  prin 
cipal  of  the  debt.  The  cost  of  Government  during  the 
four  years  before  the  war  (leaving  out  interest  on  debt) 
was  $256,226,414.  This  shows  that  the  Republicans 
have  spent,  in  a  time  of  peace,  four  dollars  where  the 
Democrats  spent  one.  But  the  cost  of  Government 


SPEECH  AT  COOPER  INSTITUTE.         219 

grows  greater,  and  we  will  allow  them  to  spend  two 
dollars  where  the  Democrats  spent  one.  This  will 
make  $512,452,828.  But  they  spent  $505,910,646 
beyond  this.  What  did  they  do  with  the  money? 
During  the  four  years  of  Mr.  Folk's  term,  which  in 
cluded  the  Mexican  war,  the  cost  of  the  War  Depart 
ment  was  only  $90,540,788  21.  We  find  that  the  cost 
of  the  War  Department,  taking  their  own  statements 
and  estimates,  will  be  in  those  four  years  of  peace 
$541,613,619.  And  this  follows  an  expenditure  of 
more  than  $3,000,000,000  during  the  war.  The  cost 
of  the  Navy  Department  in  the  four  years  ending  July 
1st,  1869,  will  be,  by  Republican  statements  and  esti 
mates,  $117,471,802;  and  this  follows  an  expenditure 
of  $314,186,742  during  the  war.  In  the  four  years 
before  the  war  the  navy  cost  only  $62,910,534.  We 
then  stood  in  the  front  rank  of  commercial  Powers. 
Our  ships  were  on  every  sea  and  were  to  be  found  in 
every  port.  American  shipping  is  now  by  our  tariff 
policy  swept  from  the  ocean,  but  the  cost  of  the  navy 
is  nearly  doubled.  The  year  ending  July  1,  1868,  is 
the  third  year  of  peace.  But  the  War  Department 
cost  $128,858,494,  which  is  more  than  its  cost  during 
the  four  years  of  Mr.  Folk's  term,  which  covered  the 
expenses  of  the  Mexican  war.  Not  only  does  one  year 
of  peace  cost  more  than  four  years  of  war  then  did,  but 
the  third  year  of  peace  costs  more  than  the  second,  for 
in  the  year  ending  July  1,  1867,  the  War  Department 
spent  only  $95,224,415.  In  these  statements  we  have 
given  the  Republicans  the  full  benefit  of  their  promises 
for  the  fiscal  year  ending  July  1,  1869,  but  we  should 


220  LIFE    OF   HORATIO    SEYMOUR, 

like  to  ask  a  few  questions.  If  $38,081,013  is  enough 
for  the  War  Department  in  that  year,  why  and  how 
did  you  spend  $123,858,490  this  year?  If  $17,500,- 
000  is  enough  for  the  navy  in  1869,  why  did  you  spend 
upon  it  $43,324,111  in  1866,  and  $31,024,011  in  1867  ? 
You  have  not  cut  down  the  numbers  of  the  army. 
Did  you  waste  money  this  year,  or  are  your  statements 
for  next  year  untrue  ?  We  ask  Republicans  to  read 
the  estimates  for  the  future,  for  they  show  the  profligacy 
of  the  past.  If  $500,000,000  of  the  money  paid  for 
military,  naval,  and  other  expenses  had  been  used  to 
pay  the  debt,  to-day  the  credit  of  the  United  States 
would  have  been  as  good  as  that  of  Great  Britain. 
The  rapid  payment,  and  the  proof  it  would  have  given 
of  good  faith,  would  have  carried  the  national  credit 
to  the  highest  point.  The  bonds  would  be  worth  much 
more  in  the  hands  of  holders,  and  yet  the  taxpayer 
would  seem  better  off,  for  the  cost  of  Government  would 
be  cut  down  as  its  credit  rose.  We  could  put  out  new 
bonds  bearing  less  interest,  which  would  not  have  the 
odious  exemption  from  taxation.  Our  debt  would  have 
been  less,  our  interest  lower,  and  our  taxes  reduced. 
The  hours  of  labor  could  be  shortened.  What  now 
lengthens  the  time  of  toil  ?  If  we  were  free  from  any 
form  of  taxation,  direct  or  indirect,  six  hours  of  work 
would  earn  as  much  as  ten  do  now.  One  hour  more 
of  work  ought  to  meet  a  laborer's  share,  of  the  cost  of 
government,  another  hour  should  pay  his  share  of  the 
national  debt  He  now  works  two  hours  more  each 
day  than  he  ought  to  pay  for  the  military  and  negro 
policy  of  Congress  and  its  corrupt  schemes.  It  has  just 


SPEECH  AT  COOPER  INSTITUTE.         221 

• 

passed  a  law  that  eight  hours  make  a  day's  labor,  while 
it  piles  up  a  load  of  taxation  which  forces  the  laborer 
to  work  ten  more  or  starve.  But  the  wise  and  honest 
use  of  this  $500,000,000  would  not  have  stopped  here. 
When  it  carried  our  bonds  to  the  level  of  specie  value, 
it  would  have  carried  up  our  currency  to  the  value  of 
specie.  The  plan  of  making  our  currency  as  good  as 
gold  by  contracting  its  volume  carries  with  it  great  dis 
tress  and  suffering.  But  if  we  lift  up  its  value,  by 
getting  rid  of  the  taint  upon  the  national  credit,  it 
harms  no  one,  it  blesses  all.  Now  our  legal  tender  and 
bank  currency  must  be  debased  while  our  national 
bonds  stand  discredited.  They  must  rise  and  fall  to 
gether.  They  are  all  based  upon  the  national  credit. 
Bank  notes  cannot  be  worth  more  than  the  bonds  which 
secure  them.  If,  then,  the  $500,000,000  had  been  duly 
and  honestly  used  to  pay  our  debt,  to-day  the  tax-payers 
would  have  been  relieved,  the  mechanic,  laborer  and 
pensioner  would  be  paid  in  coin,  or  money  good  as  coin, 
and  would  not  be  cheated  out  of  one-quarter  of  their 
dues  by  false  dollars.  The  holders  of  bonds  in  savings 
banks  or  life  insurance  would  be  better  off,  as  their  se 
curities  would  be  safer  and  worth  more.  There  would 
be  no  question  how  they  should  be  paid,  for  this  ques 
tion  grows  out  of  the  follies  of  those  in  power,  and  will 
disappear  when  they  disappear  from  the  places  they 
now  hold.  The  bondholder  would  no  longer  stand  in  an 
odious  light.  He  would  not  be  charged  with  the  taxa 
tion  which  has  been  used  to  hurt,  not  to  help,  his  claim. 
If  a  wise,  an  honest  use  of  the  public  money  would  have 
done  this  good  in  the  past,  it  will  do  it  in  the  future. 


222  LIFE    OF    HORATIO    SEYMOUR. 

"But  the  Republican  party,  at  Chicago,  pledged 
itself,  by  its  nominations  and  resolutions,  to  keep  up 
its  negro  policy.  It  is  impossible  to  give  untutored 
Africans  at  the  South  uncontrolled  power  over  the 
government,  the  property,  and  laws  of  the  people  of 
ten  States,  by  excluding  white  votes,  without  military 
despotism.  You  cannot  give  to  three  millions  of 
negroes  more  Senators  than  are  allowed  to  fifteen  mil 
lions  of  white  men  living  in  New  York,  Pennsylvania, 
Ohio,  Illinois,  Indiana,  Wisconsin,  Iowa,  Kentucky, 
Missouri,  and  Michigan,  without  keeping  up  great 
standing  armies.  Without  a  general  amnesty,  and 
the  restoration  of  the  suffrage  to  all  the  whites  in  the 
South,  a  great  standing  army  must  be  a  permanent 
institution.  In  order  to  curse  the  South  with  military 
despotism,  negro  rule,  and  disorganized  labor  and  in 
dustry,  they  cursed  the  farmers  of  the  North  with 
taxation,  the  mechanics  with  more  hours  of  toil,  the 
laborers  and  pensioners  with  debased  paper,  the  mer 
chant  with  a  shifting  standard,  and  the  public  creditor 
with  a  dishonored  and  tainted  national  faith.  Are 
these  classes  to  turn  arid  see  how  each  can  push  the 
burdens  upon  each  other,  or  are  they  to  make  common 
cause  and  do  away  with  the  curses  of  a  bad  Govern 
ment  ?  If  the  Republican  policy  prevails,  this  strug 
gle  must  begin.  Either  the  laborer  or  the  capitalist 
must  go  down.  Both  cannot  live  under  it,  and  men 
must  choose  between.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  the  pol 
icy  of  selfish  ambition  and  of  sectional  hate  is  put 
down,  our  country  will  start  upon  a  new  course  of 
prosperity,  and  all  classes  will  reap  in  common  the 


SPEECH  AT  COOPER  INSTITUTE.          223 

fruits  of  good  Government.  The  next  election  will 
turn  upon  this  question — can  the  Congressional  party 
succeed  in  their  efforts  to  excite  and  array  the  indus 
trial  and  monied  interests  against  each  other,  or  will 
these  unite  and  turn  out  the  authors  of  the  mischief 
under  which  they  are  all  suffering?  The  only  hope  of 
our  opponents  is  discord  where  there  should  be  har 
mony  and  concert  of  action.  In  our  State,  at  the  last 
election,  we  appealed  to  all  classes  to  help  us  save 
New  York  from  misgovernment ;  and  all  came  up  to 
the  rescue,  and  we  made  a  change  of  70,000.  Let  us 
again  appeal  to  all  classes  of  interests  throughout  the 
Union ;  let  us  go  before  the  people  with  these  facts, 
and  we  will  make  a  change  which  will  sweep  the 
wrong-doers  from -their  places.  We  say  to  the  bond 
holders  and  to  the  laborer  who  has  put  his  money 
into  savings  bank :  "We  do  not  wish  to  harm  you ; 
we  do  not  seek  to  give  you  bad  money,  but  to  get  a 
good  currency  for  all.  It  will  not  help  us  to  break 
down  the  credit  of  your  bonds — it  hurts  us  ;  it  keeps 
up  our  taxes  by  making  us  pay  high  interest ;  but  we 
ask  you  to  help  save  us,  as  tax-payers,  from  the  cost 
of  the  negro  and  military  policy  at  the  South.  It  is 
hard  for  us  to  pay  you  if  you  let  men  in  power  take 
the  money  we  give  in  taxes  to  reduce  your  claims  and 
use  it  to  uphold  military  despotism.  We  see  clearly 
that  a  state  of  affairs  which  will  compel  you  to  take  a 
debased  currency  will  force  every  laborer,  farmer, 
mechanic,  and  creditor,  to  take  a  debased  currency  as 
well.  If  your  claims  were  all  wiped  out  to-morrow  by 
an  issue  of  greenbacks,  it  would  not  relieve  the  fear 


224  LIFE    OF   HORATIO    SEYMOUR. 

of  patriots  ;  labor  would  still  be  cheated  by  false  dol 
lars,  our  standard  of  value  would  still  be  shifting. 
Taxation  would  be  kept  up  by  the  reconstruction  pol 
icy  ;  for  it  is  despotism  more  than  debt  that  makes 
taxation  so  heavy.  Nothing  would  be  settled.  The 
Judiciary  would  still  be  trampled  under  foot ;  the  Ex 
ecutive  would  still  be  manacled  so  that  it  could  not 
punish  crime  nor  protect  innocence.  But  strike  down 
the  Congressional  policy  and  all  will  be  set  right.  Since 
the  war  closed  in  1865,  the  Government  has  spent 
for  its  expenses,  in  addition  to  payments  on  principal 
or  interest  of  the  public  debt,  the  sum  of  more  than 
$1,000,000,000.  Of  this  sum  there  has  been  spent 
nearly  $800,000,000  on  the  army  and  navy,  and  for 
military  purposes.  This  is  nearly  one-third  of  the 
national  debt.  This  was  spent  in  the  time  of  peace. 
The  cost  of  our  navy  before  the  war  was  about 
$13,000,000  each  year.  Since  the  war,  when  our 
shipping  has  been  swept  from  the  ocean  by  taxation, 
the  annual  average  cost  has  been  $30,000,000,  al 
though  we  have  now  no  carrying  trade  to  protect. 
While  money  is  thus  wasted  without  scruple  upon  the 
army  and  navy,  if  any  aid  is  sought  to  lessen  the  cost 
of  transportation  for  the  farmers  of  the  West  or  to 
cheapen  food  for  the  laborers  of  the  East,  we  are  at 
once  treated  with  Congressional  speeches  upon  the 
virtues  of  economy.  If  from  this  amount  there  had 
been  saved  and  paid  upon  the  debt  the  sum  of 
$500,000,000,  how  changed  would  our  condition 
have  been.  With  this  payment,  which  would  have 
cut  down  the  debt  to  about  $2,000,000,000,  our 


SPEECH    AT   COOPER    INSTITUTE.  225 

credit  would  at  least  have  been  as  good  as  that  of 
Great  Britain.  It  is  because  we  did  not  thus  apply 
this  money  to  this  purpose,  but  spent  it  upon  the 
negro  policy,  the  military  despotism,  and  other 
abuses  of  Government,  that  our 'credit  is  so  low.  The 
world  saw  we  were  violating  our  faith  with  the  public 
creditors  and  the  tax-payers  alike,  when  the  money 
was  used  for  the  partisan  purpose  of  keeping  the 
South  out  of  the  Union  until  sham  governments 
could  be  manufactured  by  military  violence  and  Con 
gressional  action.  The  world  not  only  saw  the  mon 
strous  diversion  of  the  money,  wrung  from  the  peo 
ple  by  taxation,  but  it  also  saw  that  it  made,  through 
a  long  series  of  years,  still  greater  annual  expenses 
unavoidable.  When  the  entire  control  of  the  Southern^ 
States  is  given  over,  unchecked  by  the  intelligence  of 
the  white  race,  to  untutored  negroes,  whom  the  people 
of  the  North  have  said  were  unfit  to  be  voters,  when 
the  unfortunate  Africans,  drunk  with  unusual  power  | 
and  goaded  on  by  bad  and  designing  men,  shall  make 
life  and  property  unsafe,  and  shall  shock  and  disgust 
the  world  with  outrages,  we  shall  be  forced  to  raise 
and  pay  still  greater  armies.  Up  to  this  time  the  South 
has  had  at  least  an  intelligent  tyranny  in  military 
officers.  Every  man  who  is  not  blinded  by  hate  or 
bigotry  looks  forward  with  horror  to  the  condition  of  i 
the  South  under  negro  domination.  The  bad  faith  tes 
the  public  creditor  and  tax-payer  in  thus  unsettling 
our  Union,  of  keeping  the  South  in  a  condition  where 
it  cannot  help  the  national  prosperity,  but  is  made  a 
heavy  load  upon  the  country,  is  the  real  cause  of  our 
15 


226  LIFE    OF   HORATIO    SEYMOUR. 

debased  credit.  The  tax-payer  was  told  the  burdens 
put  upon  him  were  to  pay  the  debt,  but  the  money 
was  not  used  in  good  faith  to  him,  for  the  debt  still 
stands  ;  nor  in  good  faith  to  the  creditor,  for  he  was 
not  paid  what  he  should  have  been  ;  but  it  was  used 
in  a  way  which  harmed  both,  in  a  way  that  tainted 
the  nation's  credit,  kept  up  taxation  by  keeping  up  the 
rate  of  interest,  while  it  sunk  the  value  of  the  bonds, 
and  with  them  carried  down  the  paper  currency,  and 
thus  wronged  the  laborer  and  pensioner.  But  for  the 
policy  of  bad  faith,  of  partisan  purposes,  mad  folly, 
we  could  to-day  borrow  money  as  cheaply  as  Great 
Britain  ;  but  we  have  cursed  the  tax-payers,  the  laborer, 
the  pensioner,  the  public  creditor,  for  the  sake  of  curs 
ing  the  people  of  the  South  with  military  despotism 
and  negro  domination.  Every  one  must  see,  if  we 
paid  off  one-fifth  of  our  debt,  had  kept  down  the  cost 
of  Government,  had  given  peace  to  our  TJnion,  had 
built  up  industry  and  good  order  in  the  South,  not  one 
of  the  evils  which  now  afflict  us  could  have  existed. 
Our  whole  condition  would  have  been  changed.  We 
demand  that  our  currency  shall  be  made  as  good  as 
gold,  not  by  contracting  the  amount,  but  by  contract 
ing  the  expenses  of  Government.  We  are  against 
measures  which  will  pull  »down  business  credit,  and 
call  for  those  which  shall  lift  up  the  national  credit. 
When  we  stop  the  waste  which  forces  us  to  pay  a 
usury  of  ten  per  cent,  and  take  a  course  which  will 
enable  us  to  borrow  money  upon  the  rates  paid  by 
other  nations,  we  shall  add  to,  the  dignity  and  power 
of  our  Union.  When  we  give  value  to  our  bonds 


SPEECH    AT    COOPER   INSTITUTE.  227 

by  using  the  money  drawn  by  taxation  to  the  payment 
of  our  debt,  and  not  to  the  military  and  negro  scheme, 
we  shall  relieve  the  tax-payer,  the  bill-holder,  and 
give  strength  and  value  to  the  claims  of  the  public 
creditor.  We  have  seen  the  mischief  wrought  out  by 
the  policy  of  the  past  three  years.  It  will  be  as  hurt 
ful  in  the  future  as  it  has  been  in  the  past.  Yet  the 
Republican  Party  has  approved  it  and  is  pledged  to  it. 
We  have  shown  how  the  policy  of  using  our  money  to 
pay  our  debts  would  have  helped  us  in  the  past.  It 
will  do  the  same  for  us  in  the  future.  To  that  policy 
we  are  pledged.  There  is  not  one  man  in  our  party  i 
this  broad  land  who  doubts  upon  this  point.  It  was\ 
never  charged  that  a  single  Democrat  in  these  United  \ 
States  ever  favored  the  military  and  negro  policy  upon 
which  the  credit  of  the  country  has  wrecked.  Our 
remedy  is  to  use  the  public  money  to  pay  the  public 
debt.  It  is  a  simple,  briefj  but  a  certain  remedy  for 
our  national  malady.  Our  ailment  is  debt,  aggravated 
by  despotism.  In  another  way  the  Republicans  do  a 
constant  wrong  to  the  bondholders.  In  answer  to 
complaints  of  heavy  taxation,  they  say  it  cannot  be 
helped  with  our  heavy  debt,  and  thus  throw  the  whole 
odium  on  the  debt.  Why  do  they  not  tell  the  truth, 
and  say  one-third  of  our  taxation  is  made  by  our  debt  ? 
Then  they  will  be  asked,  what  makes  the  two-thirds  ? 
This  question  they  do  not  want  to  have  asked,  and  they 
do  not.  want  to  answer.  When  they  do  answer,  the 
eyes  of  all  classes  with  be  opened.  They  will  be  forced 
to  say  that  last  year  they  spent,  by  reports  of  Com 
mittee  of  Ways  and  Means,  $379,178,066  83,  and  this 


228  LIFE    OF    HORATIO    SEYMOUR. 

in  the  third  year  of  peace.  Well,  say  our  well-mean 
ing  Republican  friends,  we  suppose  the  interest  of  the 
debt  took  most  of  it.  Oh,  no;  that  took  $149,418,- 
383  87,  not  quite  as  much  as  was  spent  by  the  War 
and  Navy  Departments,  which  was  $149,472,165  35, 
and  besides  this  we  spent  $80,292,513  14  for  other 
things.  Why,  that  is  $20,000,000  more  than  the 
Democrats  spent  for  army  and  navy  and  all  expenses  of 
Government  put  together.  But  why  do  you  spend 
$25,613,673  53  on  the  navy,  when  it  formerly  cost 
$12,000,000  annually?  Has  American  shipping  grown 
so  much  that  we  have  to  keep  up  vast  navies  to  pro 
tect  it  ?  Oh,  no ;  our  tariffs  have  swept  away  Ameri 
can  ships  from  the  ocean  ;  we  have  lost  the  carrying 
trade ;  the  British  have  got  that.  Then  why  don't 
you  give  the  builders  of  merchant  ships  the  money 
spent  on  the  navy,  by  way  of  drawback  on  duties  ? 
Would  that  start  work  at  our  ship-yards  ?  Oh,  yes, 
half  the  cost  would  do  it.  Then,  why  is  it  not  done  ? 
We  did  not  think  of  it ;  really,  we  have  been  so  busy  with 
the  impeachment  arid  negro  questions,  that  we  forgot 
r  sailors  and  mechanics.  But  we  see  that  the  War 
Department  this  year  spent  $128,858,466,  when  the 
year  before  it  spent  about  $95,000,000.  The  longer 
we  have  peace  the  more  the  army  costs.  How  is  this  ? 
Well,  it  costs  a  great  deal  to  keep  soldiers  and  Freed- 
men's  Bureau  agents,  and  to  feed  and  clothe  negroes  at 
the  South.  But  why  do  you  do  it  ?  Let  the  negroes 
support  themselves  as  we  do.  You  make  the  laborers  at 
the  North  work  to  feed  and  clothe  these  idle  Africans. 
True,  but  by  so  doing  we  get  their  votes,  and  they  will 


SPEECH    AT   COOPER    INSTITUTE.  ^^ 229 

send  our  travelling  agents  to  Congress;  we  shall  get 
tvyenty  Senators  in  this  way,  while  a  majority  of  the 
people  of  the  United  States  living  in  nine  States, 
have  only  eighteen.  The  people  may  vote  as  they 
please,  but  they  cannot  get  the  Senate,  nor  repeal  any 
of  the  laws  we  got  through  for  our  advantage ;  we 
have  managed  it  so  that  one-quarter  of  the  people  have 
more  power  in  the  Senate  than  the  three-quarters. 
We  now  own  the  negroes  of  the  South.  Did  we  not 
buy  them  by  your  blood  and  money?  We  now  see 
where  the  money  goes;  we  now  see  why  the  credit 
of  our  country  is  so  tainted  ;  we  now  see  why  the 
value  of  our  paper  money  is  sinking.  It  was  only 
at  twenty-one  per  cent,  discount  in  1866  ;  is  now  at 
a  discount  of  about  twenty-nine  per  cent,  ;  we  now 
see  why  our  laborers  arid  pensioners  are  cheated  by 
false  dollars.  If  the  mechanic  cares  to  know  why 
he  works  so  many  hours,  let  him  study  the  reports  of 
the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury.  It  is  clear  why  busi 
ness  is  hindered  and  business  men  perplexed.  We 
now  know  why  the  public  creditor  is  harassed  by  our 
dishonest  credit,  and  the  tax-payer  is  hunted  down  by 
the  tax-gatherer.  The  negro  military  policy  of  the 
Republican  Party  is  at  the  bottom  of  all  these  troubles. 
We  now  get  at  the  real  issues  between  parties.  The 
Republicans,  by  their  nominations  and  resolutions,  are 
pledged  to  keep  up  the  negro  and  military  policy,  with 
all  its  cost  and  taxations.  These  will  be  greater  here 
after.  The  government  of  the  South  is  to  go  into  the 
hands  of  the  negroes.  We  have  said  they  are  unfit  to 
be  voters  at  the  North.  The  Republicans  say  they 


230  LIFE    OF    HORATIO    SEYMOUR. 

shall  be  governors  at  the  South.  We  are  clearly  op 
posed  to  this  policy.  We  have  seen  how  much  it  costs 
the  tax-payer,  the  bondholder  and  the  laborer  in  the 
past  three  years.  It  will  be  as  hurtful  in  the  future. 
We  have  also  seen  how  our  policy  of  using  the  money 
to  pay  our  debts  would  have  helped  the  tax-payer,  the 
bondholder  and  the  laborer  in  the  past.  It  will  do  as 
much  in  the  future.  The  whole  question  is  brought 
down  to  this  clear  point :  shall  we  use  our  money  to 
pay  our  debts,  relieve  the  tax-payer,  make  our  money 
good  in  the  hand  of  the  laborers  or  pensioner,  and  help 
the  bondholder?  or  shall  we  use  it  to  keep  up  military 
despotism,  feed  idle  negroes,  break  down  the  Judiciary, 
shackle  the  Executive  and  destroy  all  constitutional 
rights  ? 

UI  have  said  nothing  in  behalf  of,  or  against  the 
views  of  any  one  who  is  spoken  of  as  a  candidate  for 
the  Presidency  on  the  Democratic  side.  I  have  only 
said  what  each  one  agrees  to  and  is  in  favor  of.  No 
man  has  been  named  who  is  not  in  favor  of  reducing 
expenses,  and  then  making  our  paper  as  good  as  gold. 
No  man  has  been  named  who  is  not  in  favor  of  cutting 
down  military  expenses.  No  man  has  been  named 
who  is  not  in  favor  of  using  the  money  drawn  from  the 
tax-payers  to  pay  the  public  debt,  No  man  has  been 
named  who  is  not  in  favor  of  a  general  amnesty  to  the 
people  of  the  South.  No  man  has  been  named  who  is 
not  an  upholder  of  constitutional  rights.  No  man  has 
been  named  by  the  Democratic  party  whose  election 
would  not  help  the  tax-payer,  the  pensioner,  the  la 
borer,  and  the  bondholder.  On  the  other  hand,  the 


SPEECH  AT  COOPER  INSTITUTE.          231 

candidates  of  the  Republican  party  are  pledged  to 
their  past  policy,  which  has  sunk  the  value  of  our  cur 
rency  more  than  eight  per  cent,  in  the  past  two  years. 
The  discount  upon  our  paper  money  was  twenty  per 
cent,  in  April,  1866 ;  it  is  now  about  twenty-nine  per 
cent.  It  will  continue  to  go  down  under  the  same 
policy.  As  it  sinks  it  will  increase  taxes,  it  will  curse 
all  labor  and  business,  it  will  endanger  still  more  the 
.public  credit;  for  the  greater  the  premium  on  gold  the 
.  harder  it  becomes  to  pay  specie  to  the  bondholder,  and 
his  claims  become  more  odious.  What  claim  have  the 
Republicans  upon  our  soldiers  ?  They  take  away  from 
him  one-quarter  of  his  pension,  by  paying  him  in  false 
money,  which  is  worth  less  than  seventy-five  cents  on 
the  dollar.  A  wise  and  honest  administration  would 
have  made  it  worth  its  face  in  gold.  What  right  have 
they  to  call  upon  the  mechanic  and  laborer  ?  They 
have  lengthened  out  the  hours  of  their  toil  to  feedj 
swarms  of  office-holders  at  the  North,  and  to  support 
armies  and  hordes  of  negroes  at  the  South.  How  can 
they  look  the  tax-payers  in  the  face,  when  they  have 
wrung  from  them  so  many  millions  upon  the  pretext 
that  the  debt  compelled  them  to  do  so,  while  they  were 
using  the  money  thus  collected  to  support  standing 
armies  and  to  trample  upon  the  rights  and  liberties  of 
the  American  people  ?  Can  they,  with  decency,  appeal 
to  the  bondholder,  after  tainting  the  national  credit 
and  sinking  to  the  level  of  the  Turks,  and  endangering 
their  securities  by  throwing  upon  them  the  whole 
odium  of  taxation  ?  Then  let  the  East  and  West, 
the  North  and  the  South,  the  soldier,  the  sailor — in 


232  LIFE    OF   HORATIO    SEYMOUR. 

ships  or  in  the  field — the  tax-payer  and  the  bondholder, 
by  one  united  effort,  drive  from  power  the  common 
enemies  of  liberty,  honesty,  honor,  rights,  and  consti 
tutional  laws." 


CHAPTER  X. 

The  National  Democratic  Convention  of  1868 — Arrival  of  Delegates  in 
New  York— Scenes  in  the  City— Preparations  for  the  Convention- 
Review  of  the  Prospects  of  Candidates— Noble  Letter  from  Mr. 
Pendleton— Mr.  Seymour  Declines  to  be  a  Candidate— The  "  New 
York  Citizen  "  on  Mr.  Seymour — Patriotism  of  the  Pendleton  Men — 
The  Convention — The  North  and  the  South  Renew  the'r  old  Harmony 
— Organization  of  the  Convention— Mr.  Seymour  Chosen  its  Pres 
ident — Reception  by  the  Convention — His  Speech — A  Scathing  Re 
view  of  Radicalism — Adoption  of  the  Platform — Eloquent  Statement 
of  the  Principles  of  the  Party— Adoption  of  the  "  Two-Thirds  Rule  " 
— Nominations — The  Balloting — A  **  Dead-Lock  " — Withdrawal  of 
Mr.  Pendleton — His  Friends  Insist  upon  the  Nomination  of  Governor 
Seymour — He  Declines  the  Honor — Scene  in  the  Convention — Mr. 
Seymour  is  compelled  to  Submit  to  the  Will  of  the  Party — Enthusi 
asm — He  is  Declared  the  Unanimous  Choice  of  the  Convention  for 
the  Presidency — Nomination  of  General  Blair  for  the  Vice-Pres 
idency — Statement  of  the  Ballots  for  President — Final  Adjournment 
of  the  Convention. 

THE  National  Democratic  Convention  met  in  Tam 
many  Hall,  in  New  York  City,  on  the  4th  of  July, 
1868.  For  several  days  previous,  the  city  had  been 
filling  up  rapidly  with  the  arriving  delegates  and  their 
friends,  and  great  enthusiasm  prevailed  among  the 
new-comers.  The  most  extensive  preparations  had 
been  made  for  the  assembling  of  the  Convention.  The 
new  hall  of  the  Tammany  Society,  which  was  just 
fresh  from  the  builder's  hands,  had  been  fitted  up  and 
decorated  with  a  taste  and  magnificence  which  excited 
the  admiration  of  all  beholders. 

Previous  to  the  assembling  of  the  Convention,  the 


234  LIFE    OF    HORATIO   SEYMOUR. 

friends  of  Mr.  Seymour  had"  repeatedly  urged  him  to 
allow  his  name  to  be  presented  as  a  candidate  for  the 
nomination ;  but  he  modestly  but  firmly  refused  to 
grant  their  request.  The  peaceful  retirement  of  his 
home  had  more  attractions  for  him  than  the  Pres 
idency,  and  he  was  determined  not  to  abandon  it  un 
less  he  should  be  called  from  it  by  some  cause  more 
urgent  than  any  which  then  presented  itself  to  him. 
It  being  understood,  therefore,  that  Mr.  Seymour  would 
not  be  a  candidate  for  the  nomination,  the  choice  at 
the  first  seemed  to  lie  between  the  Hon.  George  H.  Pen- 
diet  on,  of  Ohio,  and  General  Hancock.  The  former, 
having  the  almost  unbroken  strength  of  the  Western 

O  o 

delegations,  and  many  friends  among  the  Eastern  to 
sustain  him  was  undoubtedly  the  strongest  of  all  the 
competitors  for  the  prize,  and  it  was  feared  by  some 
that  his  friends  would  insist  upon  his  nomination  with 
a  persistency  which  would  cause  serious  trouble  in  the 
Convention.  Those  who  entertained  this  feeling,  how 
ever,  knew  little  of  Mr.  Pendleton.  No  purer  or  more 
unselfish  patriot  is  to  be  found  in  the  land.  Ever 
prompt  to  assert  his  principles,  always  prepared  to  de 
fend  them,  he  is  the  first  to  sacrifice  his  own  personal 
interests  to  their  success.  Before  the  Ohio  delegation, 
his  staunchest  friends,  left  their  homes  for  New  York, 
he  addressed  the  following  manly  and  generous  letter 
to  one  of  the  members : 

u  CINCINNATI,  Thursday,  June  25,  1868. 
"  MY  DEAR  SIR  :  You  left  my  office  this  morning 
before  I  was  aware  of  it.     I  seek  you  at  home  but 


LETTER   FROM   MR.  PENDLETON.  235 

you   are   not   here.     I   must   say   what   I   want   by 
note. 

44  As  soon  as  you  get  to  New  York,  see  Governor 
Seymour.  You  know  well  my  affection  and  admira 
tion  for  him.  You  know  well  what  was  my  feeling 
before  arid  after  I  heard  from  him  last  fall.  He  is  to 
day  the  foremost  man  in  our  party  in  the  United  States. 
His  ability,  cultivation,  and  experience  put  him  at  the 
head  of  our  statesmen.  He  commands  my  entire  con 
fidence — I  would  rather  trust  him  than  myself  with 
the  delicate  duties  of  the  next  four  years.  You  know 
I  am  sincere. 

44  Make  him  feel  this,  and  that  he  can  rely  on  me 
and  my  friends.  I  have  a  natural  pride — an  honest 
pride,  I  believe — in  the  good- will  of  my  countrymen  ; 
but  you,  better  than  any  one  else,  know  that  it  is 
neither  egotistical  nor  over-ruling,  and  that  I  am 
ready,  anxious,  to  give  up  the  nomination  to  any  body 
who  can  get  one  single  vote  more  than  myself. 

''Express  all  this  frankly  to  the  Governor,  but 
delicately,  and  let  him  understand  my  views  of  men 
and  measures  as  I  have  frequently  given  them  to  you. 
Good-bye.  God  bless  you  ! 

"  Very  truly, 

u  GEORGE  H.  PENDLETON. 
44  To  Washington  McLean,  Esq." 

*  The  New  York  Citizen,  in  an  editorial  published  on  the  25th  of 
August,  1866,  nearly  two  years  ago,  thus  expressed  its  views  concerning 
Mr.  Seymour,  which  are  interesting,  as  confirming  the  opinion  held  by 
Mr.  Pendleton  and  the  rest  of  the  Democratic  party  : 

"  The  time  is  fast  approaching,  if  not  already  fully  come,  in  which 
independent  men  may  do  justice  to  the  character  and  conduct  of  ex-Gov- 


236  LIFE    OF   HORATIO   SEYMOUR. 

There  was  no  real  prospect  then  that  the  Pendleton 
men  of  the  West  would  be  influenced  by  any  other 
feeling  than  the  pure  and  disinterested  patriotism 


ernor  Horatio  Seymour — to-day  the  most  brilliant  and  accomplished 
member  of  the  Democratic  party,  the  best  beloved  son  of  New  York, 
and  wi.h  a  rarer  and  more  genial  faculty  for  making  and  retaining  friends 
than  any  other  public  man  of  our  acquaintance,  since  the  death  of  Judge 
Stephen  A.  Douglas. 

"  While  the  recent  civil  war  was  in  progress,  Seymour  labored  under 
a  cloud  of  Radical  misrepresentation  from  which  no  efforts  of  himself, 
or  of  his  loyal  friends,  could  relieve  his  Attitude.  He  had  farther  vision 
than  most  men — a  larger  knowledge  of  the  past,  and  consequently  a 
better  prevision  of  the  future.  And  he  foresaw,  that  while  we  were 
asserting  the  Constitution  by  force  of  arms  against  the  temporary  rebels 
of  the  South,  the  Radical  Jacobins  in  Congress  were  seeking  to  establish 
a  perm.-ment  tyranny  which  must  forever  nullify  all  rights  under  the 
Constitution  both  in  the  Northern  and  Southern  States. 

"But  during  the  hot  days  of  the  war,  to  question  any  act  of  the  Gen 
eral  Government  was  to  be  '  disloyal ; '  and  to  cast  a  doubt  upon  the  in 
fallibility  or  perfect  patriotism  of  Congress,  was  the  'unspeakable  sin' 
in  political  religion.  "When  Governor  Seymour  denounced  the  conduct 
and  management  of  the  Provost  Marshal  General's  department,  he  was 
regarded  as  a  *  traitor ; '  and  for  asserting  and  offering  to  prove  that  some 
of  the  subordinates  in  that  department  were  perjured  ri.lains,  who  were 
attempting  to  operate  the  draft  with  illegal  severity  in  some  of  the  Dem 
ocratic  districts  of  our  city,  he  was  held  up  to  odium  in  the  Radical  press 
as  one  deserving  a  cell  in  Fort  Lafayette,  if  not  summary  execution  on 
the  parade-ground  of  Governor's  Island. 

**  It  was  all  in  vain,  therefore,  for  Governor  Seymour  to  organize 
regiments,  and  to  strain  every  practical  power  of  his  position  for  the 
support  of  the  Union  cause,  while  the  morbid  and  feverish  state  of  public 
opinion  lasted.  For  openly  daring  to  doubt  the  sincerity  of  the  so-called 
4  Union  party's '  professed  devotion  to  the  Union  and  the  Constitution, 
and  for  this  crime  alone,  he  was  condemned  to  suffer  the  major  anathema 
and  excommunication  of  the  whole  loyal  church.  But  how  stands  this 
matter  to-day  ?  Was  he  wright  or  wrong  ? 

"  Is  it  not  now  admitted,  even  by  the  most  reckleFs  partisans  of  the 
Radical  cause,  that  the  management  of  our  Provost  Marshal's  depart 
ment  during  the  war,  was  a  disgrace  to  our  country  and  century  ?  That 


PATRIOTISM   OF   THE    PENDLETON    MEN.  237 

which  ^swayed  their  leader,  and  when  the  delegates 
began  to  assemble  in  caucuses,  previous  to  the  open 
ing  of  the  Convention,  it  was  found  that  there  was  no 


many  of  its  subordinates — in  fact  nearly  all — were  scoundrels  capable  of 
every  crime  conceivable;  and  that  the  excessive  drafts  upon  the  Demo 
cratic  city  of  New  York,  which  Judge  Waterbury  exposed  and  Governor 
Seymour  resisted,  were  only  some  atrocious  parts  of  a  great  plot  for 
striking  down  all  resistance  to  the  Radical  programme  at  the  point  of 
the  bayonet?  Should  any  conservative  Republican  be  disposed  to  ques 
tion  this  fact,  he  is  respectfully  referred  to  the  present  infamous  notoriety 
of  Lafayette  0.  Baker,  whose  name  nearly  blisters  every  lip  that  breathes 
it ;  or  to  the  report  made  by  Congress,  and  echoed  in  the  Tribune,  of  the 
disclosures  resulting  from  the  difficulty  between  General  James  B.  Fry 
and  Congressman  Roscoe  Conklin. 

"  Again  :  all  must  remember  how  the  agents  appointed  by  Governor 
Seymour  for  collecting  the  votes  of  our  soldiers  in  the  various  armies, 
were  denounced  by  the  Radical  press,  and  finally  flung  into  the  Old  Cap 
itol  prison  and  other  bastiles  of  the  General  Government,  under  charges 
of  making  fraudulent  returns.  This  course  was  pursued  just  prior  to, 
and  had  its  effect  upon  the  last  Presidential  election;  but  when  that 
struggle  was  over,  and  the  Radical  authorities  were  called  upon  to 
substantiate  their  charges  against  Col.  North  and  his  associate  agents  by 
some  form  of  trial — even  one  before  a  Military  Commission  parked  to 
convict — do  we  not  also  remember  how  the  Government  shrank  back 
from  its  false  accusations,  and  was  compelled  to  acknowledge  their  false 
hood  by  liberating  without  trial,  or  even  formal  arraignment,  Governor 
Seymour's  agents  ? 

"  And  lastly — at  least  for  the  present  week — was  Horatio  Seymour 
right  or  wrong  in  denouncing  the  Republican  party  as  false  to  the  Con 
stitution  and  not  sincerely  desirous  for  a  return  of  the  Unian  ?  Let 
President  Andrew  Johnson  answer  this,  and  let  all  the  conservative  Re 
publicans  who  met  at  Philadelphia  take  part  in  his  reply.  That  party  is 
now  openly  arrayed  against  the  reconstruction  of  the  Union,  and  it  is  on 
the  eve  of  impeaching  President  Johnson  for  his  attempt  to  arrest  its 
illegal  usurpations  and  exactions.  It  has  thrown  off  the  mask  it  wore 
when  soliciting  Democrats  to  fight  the  battle  for  its  existence,  under  a 
delusion  that  they  were  fighting  the  battle  of  the  country  ;  and  it  is  to 
day — as  Governor  Seymour  always  knew  it  to  be,  and  pronounced  it — 
the  revolutionary  and  usurpational  party  of  the  country,  endeavoring  to 


238  LIFE    OF    HORATIO    SEYMOUR. 

doubt  that  the  session  would  be  marked  by  greater 
harmony  than  had  been  known  in  the  party  for  years. 
The  occasion  was   indeed  an  interesting  one.     It 
was  the  first  National  Convention  of  the  Democratic 

hold  the  Southern  States  as  conquered  provinces  wherein  its  satraps  may 
pillage  at  discretion  ;  and  ready  even  to  plunge  the  whole  country  back 
into  the  seething  caldron  of  civil  war,  rather  than  resign  the  illegal 
powers  and  profits  which  it  seized  during  the  busy  and  half  delirious 
days  of  our  recent  contest. 

"For  men  like  Horatio  Seymour,  the  reverses  of  to-day  are  nothing 
— the  future  is  the  promised  land  of  justice  ;  and  that  future  has  arrived. 
Traduced  and  vilified  during  the  war,  his  course  has  been  nobly  vindi 
cated  by  the  subsequent  actions  of  his  slanderers  ;  and  to-day  he  occupies 
a  proud  pedestal  before  the  whole  American  people  as  one  who  was 
wisely  and  greatly  true  to  the  Union  and  the  Constitution,  in  the  very 
darkest  days  we  have  seen  and  in  the  best  sense  of  truth ;  an  asserter  of 
individual  liberty  and  the  liberty  of  the  press  against  the  arbitrary  usur 
pations  of  Radical  power  ;  a  fearless  and  faithful  guardian  of  the  people's 
liberties  and  rights;  and  one  who  could  better  afford  to  be  overcome  and 
vituperated  in  a  course  he  knew  to  be  right,  than  to  accept  all  the  honors 
and  rewards  of  government  while  acquiescing  in  concessions  to  the  ille 
gal  demands  of  a  fanatical  and  usurping  junta. 

"While  Seymour  was  Governor  of  our  State,  his  worst  enemies  made 
no  suggestion  of  corruption.  His  hands  were  pure,  and  he  had  pure 
men  in  his  councils.  For  vetoing  the  Broadway  Railroad  Bill  and  other 
measures  of  like  iniquity  and  rapacious  fraud,  he  was  defeated  turo  years 
ago  by  the  machinations  of  the  friends  of  the  bill ;  but  the  day  is  fast 
approaching  in  which  the  rascals  who  took  part  in  that  treachery,  and 
boasted  of  their  share  in  its  success,  will  call  upon  the  rocks  and  moun 
tains  to  cover  them  so  that  their  sight  may  not  be  blasted  by  the  glory 
of  Mr.  Seymour's  vindication.  Warm  and  deep  in  the  heart  of  every 
honest  Democrat  in  the  State  of  New  York,  the  image  of  Horatio  Sey 
mour  has  its  home.  He  is  our  ablest,  most  faithful  and  most  beloved 
representative.  He  is  the  man  of  widest  grasp  and  highest  culture  in 
our  party.  He  is  the  statesman  who  might  nobly  and  bravely  fill  that 
seat  which  Seward's  imbecility  disgraces;  and  he,  of  all  men  we  know, 
could  most  certainly  and  easily  assert  for  our  State  its  just  ascendency  in 
the  great  council  of  the  nation,  if  he  were  elected  next  Winter  to  thfi 
seat  in  the  United  States  Senate  now  occupied  by  Mr.  Ira  Harris." 


MEETING    OF   THE    CONVENTION.  239 

party  since  the  close  of  the  war — the  first  in  which  the 
Southern  States  had  participated  since  1860.  The 
representatives  of  that  great  Democracy  of  the  North 
and  West  that  had  carried  the  war  to  a  successful  close, 
met  once  more  as  brothers  in  a  common  cause,  those 
who  for  four  years  had  resisted  them  with  a  valor  and 
skill  which  no  true  American  need  feel  otherwise  than 
proud  of.  The  North  here  met  the  South  in  a  spirit 
of  frank  and  generous  forgetfulness  of  the  past  and 
hopefulness  for  the  future,  and  the  South,  saddened 
and  wiser  by  its  reverses,  came  forward  manfully  to 
renew  its  allegiance  to  the  Constitution  and  laws  of 
the  Union.  Both  came  to  do  what  lay  in  their  power 
to  save  that  Constitution  and  those  laws  from  the  ruin 
and  infamy  which  the  fanaticism  of  the  party  in  power 
sought  to  bring  upon  them,  and  here  was  laid  the  firm 
foundation  of  that  mutual  esteem  and  brotherly  love 
which  is  once  more  to  bind  together  the  great  conserva- 

o  o 

tive  elements  of  the  two  sections. 

At  precisely  twelve  o'clock  on  the  4th  of  July,  1868, 
the  Convention  was  called  to  order  by  the  Honorable 
August  Belmont,  the  Chairman  of  the  Democratic 
•National  Committee,  who,  after  a  few  well-timed  re 
marks,  nominated  the  Honorable  Henry  L.  Palmer  of 
Wisconsin,  as  temporary  Chairman.  Mr.  Palmer  ac 
cepted  the  position  in  a  brief  address,  after  which  the 
proceedings  of  the  Convention  were  opened  with  a 
prayer  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Morgan  of  the  Episcopal 
Church.  After  transacting  the  usual  preliminary 
business,  the  Convention  adjourned  until  Monday, 
July  6th. 


240  LIFE    OF   HOEATIO    SEYMOUR. 

The  Convention  was  formally  organized  on  Mon 
day  by  the  election  of  Governor  Seymour  as  President. 
The  nomination  was  received  with  the  wildest  enthusi 
asm  and  was  carried  by  acclamation.  A  committee, 
consisting  of  Senator  Bigler,  of  Pennsylvania,  and 
Governor  Hammond,  of  South  Carolina,  was  then  ap 
pointed  to  conduct  Mr.  Seymour  to  the  chair.  His  ap 
pearance  on  the  platform  in  company  with  these  gentle 
men  was  hailed  with  loud  and  repeated  cheers.  The 
whole  convention  rose  and  greeted  him  with  the  utmost 
enthusiasm,  in  which  the  ladies  and  the  spectators  in 
the  galleries  joined.  The  cheering  continued  for  several 
minutes,  and  when  quiet  was  restored  Mr.  Seymour 
came  forward  and  said : 

"GENTLEMEN  OF  THE  CONVENTION:  I  thank  you 
for  the  honor  you  have  done  me  in  making  me  your 
presiding  officer.  (Cheers.)  This  Convention  is  made 
up  of  a  large  number  of  delegates  from  all  parts  of  our 
broad  land.  To  a  great  degree  we  are  strangers  to 
each  other.,  and  view  the  subjects  which  agitate  our 
country  from  different  standpoints.  We  cannot,  at 
once,  learn  each  other's  modes  of  thought,  or  grasp  all 
the  facts  which  bear  upon  the  minds  of  others.  Yet 
our  session  must  be  brief,  and  we  are  forced  to  act 
without  delay  upon  questions  of  an  exciting  character 
and  of  deep  import  to  our  country.  (Applause.)  To 
maintain  order,  to  restrain  all  exhibitions  of  passion,  to 
drive  out  of  our  minds  all  unkind  suspicions  is,  at  this 
time,  a  great  duty.  (Cheers.)  I  rely  upon  your  sense 
of  this  duty  and  not  upon  my  own  ability  to  sustain 
me  in  the  station  in  which  I  am  placed  by  your  kind 


SPEECH   OF    GOVERNOR   SEYMOUR.  241 

partiality.  Men  never  met  under  greater  responsibili 
ties  than  those  which  now  weigh  upon  us.  (Applause.) 
It  is  not  a  mere  party  triumph  which  we  seek.  We 
are  trying  to  save  our  country  from  the  dangers  which 
overhang  it.  (Cheers.)  We  wish  to  lift  off  the  per 
plexities  and  the  shackles  which,  in  the  shape  of  bad 
laws  and  of  crushing  taxation,  now  paralyze  the  busi 
ness  and  labor  of  our  land.  (Loud  cheers.)  We  hope, 
too,  that  we  can  give  order,  prosperity,  and  happiness 
to  those  sections  of  our  country  which  suffer  so  deeply 
to-day  in  their  homes  and  in  all  the  fields  of  their  in 
dustry  from  the  unhappy  events  of  the  last  eight  years. 
I  trust  that  our  actions  will  show  that  we  are  governed 
by  an  earnest  purpose  to  help  all  classes  of  our  citizens. 
Avoiding  harsh  invectives  against  men,  we  should  keep 
the  public  mind  fixed  upon  the  questions  which  must 
now  be  met  and  solved.  (Cheers.)  Let  us  leave  the 
past  to  the  calm  judgment  of  the  future  and  confront 
the  perils  of  the  day.  (Cheers.)  We  are  forced  to 
meet  the  assertions  of  the  resolutions  put  forth  by  the 
late  Republican  Convention.  I  aver  there  is  not  in 
this  body  one  man  who  has  it  in  his  heart  to  excite  so 
much  of  angry  feeling  against  the  Republican  party  as 
must  be  stirred  up  in  the  minds  of  those  who  read 
these  declarations  in  the  light  of  recent  events  and  in 
view  of  the  condition  of  our  country.  (Applause.)  In 
the  first  place,  they  congratulate  the  perplexed  man  of 
business,  the  burdened  tax-payer,  the  laborer  whose 
hours  of  toil  are  lengthened  out  by  the  growing  cost  of 
the  necessaries  of  life,  upon  the  success  of  that  recon 
struction  policy,  which  has  brought  all  these  evils  upon 
16 


242  LIFE    OF   HORATIO    SEYMOUR. 

them  by  the  cost  of  its  military  despotism  and  the  cor 
ruption  of  its  bureau  agencies.  In  one  resolution  they 
1  denounce  all  forms  of  repudiation  as  a  national  crime? 
Then  why  did  they  put  upon  the  statute  books  of  the 
nation  the  laws  which  invite  the  citizens  who  borrow 
coin  to  force  their  creditor  to  take  debased  paper,  and 
thus  wrong  him  of  a  large  share  of  his  claim  in  viola 
tion  of  the  most  solemn  compact?  (Cheers.)  If  re 
pudiation  is  a  national  crime,  is  it  no  crime  to  invite 
all  the  citizens  of  this  country  thus  to  repudiate  their 
individual  promises  ?  (Applause.)  Was  it  not  a  crime 
to  force  the  creditors  of  this  and  other  States  to  take 
a  currency  at  times  worth  no  more  than  40  cents  on 
the  dollar  in  repayment  for  the  sterling  coin  they 
gave  to  build  roads  and  canals  which  yield  such 
ample  returns  of  wealth  and  prosperity  ?  (Applause.) 
Again  they  say,  ''It  is  due  to  the  laborer  of 
the  nation  that  taxation  should  be  equalized.'  Then 
why  did  they  make  taxation  unequal  ?  Beyond  the  in 
justice  of  making  one  class  of  citizens  pay  for  another 
their  share  of  the  cost  of  schools,  of  roads,  of  the  local 
laws  which  protect  their  lives  and  property,  it  was  an 
unwise  and  hurtful  thing.  (Cheers.)  It  sunk  the 
credit  of  the  country,  as  unusual  terms  are  always  hurt 
ful  to  the  credit  of  the  borrower.  They  also  declare, 
4  The  best  policy  to  dimmish  our  burden  of  debt  is  to  im 
prove  our  credit  that  capitalists  will  seek  to  loan  us  money 
at  lower  rates  of  interest  than  we  now  pay  and  we  must 
continue  to  pay  so  long  as  repudiation,  partial  or  total, 
open  or  covert  is  threatened  or  suspected?  Then  why 
have  they  used  full  five  hundred  millions  of  the  taxes 


SPEECH   OF   GOVERNOR    SEYMOUR.  243 

drawn  from  the  people  of  this  country  to  uphold  a  des 
potic  military  authority  and  to  crush  out  the  life  of  the 
States,  when,  if  this  money  had  been  used  to  pay  our 
debts,  capitalists  would  now  seek  to  lend  us  money  at 
lower  rates  of  interest.  (Cheers.)  But  for  this  "  covert 
repudiation  "  our  national  credit  would  not  be  tainted 
in  the  markets  of  the  world.  Again,  they  declare,  '  Of 
all  who  were  faithful  in  the  trials  of  the  late  war,  there 
were  none  entitled  to  more  especial  honor  than  the 
brave  soldiers  and  seamen  who  endured  the  hardships 
of  campaign  and  cruise,  and  imperiled  their  lives  in  the 
service  of  the  country ;  the  bounties  and  pensions  pro 
vided  by  the  laws  for  these  brave  defenders  of  the 
nation  are  obligations  never  to  be  forgotten;  the 
widows  and  orphans  of  the  gallant  dead  are  the  wards 
of  the  people — a  sacred  legacy  bequeathed  to  the 
nation's  protecting  care.1  How  have  these  sacred 
duties  been  performed ;  they  pay  to  the  maimed  man, 
to  the  widow,  or  the  orphan,  a  currency  which  they 
have  sunk  one-quarter  below  its  rightful  value  by  their 
policy  of  hate,  of  waste,  and  of  military  despotism.  The 
pittances  paid  to  the  wounded  soldiers  is  pinched  down 
twenty-five  per  cent,  below  the  value  of  that  coin 
which  he  had  a  right  to  expect.  (Loud  cheering.) 
Is  there  no  covert  repudiation  in  this?  (Applause.) 
Again  they  say,  ''Foreign  immigration,  which  has 
added  so  much  to  the  wealth,  development,  and  resources 
and  increase  of  power  to  this  Republic,  the  asylum  of 
the  oppressed  of  all  nations,  should  be  fostered  and  en 
couraged  by  a  liberal  and  just  policy. ,'  Is  this  foreign 
immigration  fostered  by  policy  which,  in  cruel  mockery 


244  LIFE   OF   HORATIO   SEYMOUE. 

of  laws  just  passed  declaring  eight  hours  to  be  a  legal 
day's  labor,  by  the  cost  of  government  and  of  swarms 
of  officials,  so  swells  the  cost  of  living  that  men  must 
toil  on  to  meet  the  exactions  ?  (Cheers.)  The  time 
was  when  we  could  not  only  invite  the  European  to 
share  with  us  the  material  blessings  of  our  great  coun 
try,  but  more  than  that,  we  could  tell  those  who  fled 
from  oppression  that  we  lived  under  a  government  of 
laws  administered  by  the  Judiciary,  which  kept  the 
bayonet  and  the  sword  in  due  subordination.  (Cheers.) 
We  could  point  to  a  written  constitution  which  not 
only  marked  out  the  powers  of  government,  but  with 
anxious  care  secured  to  the  humblest  men  the  rights  of 
property,  of  person  and  of  conscience.  Is  immigra 
tion  encouraged  by  trampling  that  Constitution  in  the 
dust ;  treating  it  with  contempt ;  shackling  the  Judi 
ciary  ;  insulting  the  Executive,  and  giving  all  the 
world  to  understand  that  the  great  guarantees  of  polit 
ical  and  social  rights  are  destroyed  ?  (Great  applause.) 
But  the  crowning  indictment  against  the  follies  and 
crimes  of  those  in  power  is  in  these  words  :  *  That 
we  recognize  the  great  principles  laid  down  in  the 
immortal  Declaration  of  Independence  as  the  true  foun 
dation  of  democratic  government,  and  we  hail  with 
gladness  every  effort  towards  making  these  principles 
a  living  reality  on  every  inch  of  American  soil.'  If 
within  the  limits  of  ten  States  of  this  Union  an  Amer 
ican  citizen,  stung  by  a  sense  of  his  wrongs,  should 
publicly  and  truthfully  denounce  the  men  in  power  be 
cause,  in  the  very  language  of  this  Declaration  of  In 
dependence,  l  Tliey  have  erected  a  multitude  of  new  offi- 


SPEECH    OF    GOVERNOR    SEYMOUR.  245 

ces  and  sent  forth  swarms  of  officers  to  harass  our 
people  and  eat  out  their  substance^  he  would  in  all 
human  probability  be  dragged  to  a  prison.  Or  if,  in 
the  indignant  language  of  our  fathers,  he  should  ex 
claim,  '  TJiey  have  affected  to  render  the  military  inde 
pendent  of  and.  superior  to  the  civil  power,  they  have 
abolished  the  free  system  of  English  laws,  and  estab 
lished  herein  an  arbitrary  government ; '  for  the  of 
fence  of  asserting  these  principles  he  would  be  tried 
and  punished  by  a  military  tribunal.  (Great  cheering.) 
Having  declared  that  the  principles  of  the  Declaration 
of  Independence  should  be  made  a  '  living  reality  on 
every  inch  of  American  soilj  they  put  in  nomination  a 
military  chieftain  who  stands  at  the  head  of  that  sys 
tem  of  despotisms  that  crushes  beneath  its  feet  the 
greatest  principles  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence. 
(Cheers.)  To-day,  in  some  States,  it  is  held  by  mili 
tary  orders  to  be  a  crime  to  speak  out  the  indignation 
and  contempt  which  burn  within  the  bosoms  of  patriot 
ic  men.  If  to-morrow  a  military  order  should  be  put 
forth  in  that  State  where  the  ashes  of  Washington  are 
entombed,  that  it  should  be  an  offence  to  declare  that 
the  military  should  ever  be  subordinate  to  the  civil 
authority — to  speak  out  the  sentiment  that  it  was  a 
disgrace  to  our  country  to  let  the  hordes  of  officials  eat 
up  the  substance  of  the  people — he  who  uttered  these 
words  could  be  dragged  to  prison  from  the  very  grave 
where  lie  the  remains  of  the  author  of  the  DeclaratioL 
of  Independence — (loud  cheers) — from  this  outrage  there 
could  be  no  appeal  to  the  courts ;  and  the  Republican 
candidate  for  the  Presidency  has  accepted  a  position 


246  LIFE    OF   HORATIO   SEYMOUR. 

which  makes  the  rights  and  liberties  of  a  large  share 
of  our  people  dependent  upon  his  will.  (Applause.) 
.In  view  of  these  things,  can  there  be  one  man  in  this 
Convention  who  can  let  a  personal  ambition,  a  passion, 
a  prejudice,  turn  him  aside  one  hair's  breadth  in  his 
efforts  to  wipe  out  the  wrongs  and  outrages  which  dis 
grace  our  country  ?  (Cheers.)  Can  there  be  one  man 
here  whose  heart  is  so  dead  to  all  that  is  great  and 
noble  in  patriotism  that  he  will  not  gladly  sacrifice  all 
other  things  for  the  sake  of  his  country,  its  liberties, 
and  its  greatness?  Can  we  suffer  any  prejudices, 
growing  out  of  past  differences  of  opinion,  to  hinder 
us  from  uniting  now  with  all  who  will  act  with  us  to 
save  our  country?  (Cheers.)  We  meet  to-day  to  see 
what  measures  can  be  taken  to  arrest  the  dangers 
which  threaten  our  country,  and  to  retrieve  it  from 
the  evils  and  burdens  resulting  from  bad  government 
and  unwise  counsels.  I  thank  God  that  the  strife  of 
arms  has  ceased,  and  that  once  more  in  the  great  Con 
ventions  of  our  party  we  can  call  through  the  whole 
roll  of  States  and  find  men  to  answer  for  each.  (Tre 
mendous  and  continued  cheering.)  Time  and  events 
in  their  great  cycles  have  brought  us  to  this  spot  to 
renew  and  invigorate  that  Constitutional  Government 
which  nearly  eighty  years  ago  was  inaugurated  in  this 
city.  (Loud  cheers.)  It  was  here  that  George  "Wash 
ington,  the  first  President,  swore  to  "  preserve,  protect, 
and  defend  "  the  Constitution  of  these  United  States. 
(Cheers.)  And  here,  this  day,  we  as  solemnly  pledge 
ourselves  to  uphold  the  rights  and  liberties  of  the 
American  people.  Then,  as  now,  a  great  war  which 


SPEECH  OF  GOVERNOR  SEYMOUR.         247 

has  desolated  our  land  had  ceased.  Then,  as  now, 
there  was  in  every  patriotic  breast  a  longing  for  the 
blessings  of  a  good  government,  for  the  protection  of 
laws,  and  for  sentiments  of  fraternal  regard  and  af 
fection  among  the  inhabitants  of  all  the  States  of  this 
Union.  When  our  Government,  in  1780,  was  inau 
gurated  in  this  city,  there  were  glad  processions  of 
men,  and  those  manifestations  of  great  joy  which  a 
people  show  when  they  feel  that  an  event  has  hap 
pened  which  is  to  give  lasting  blessing  to  the  land. 
(Cheers.)  To-day  in  this  same  spirit  this  vast  assem 
blage  meets,  and  the  streets  are  thronged  with  men 
who  have  come  from  the  utmost  borders  of  our  con 
tinent.  They  are  filled  with  the  hope  that  we  are 
about,  by  our  actions  and  our  policy,  to  bring  back  the 
blessings  of  good  government.  It  is  among  the  hap 
piest  omens  which  inspirit  us  now  that  those  who 
fought  bravely  in  our  late  civil  war  are  foremost  in 
their  demands  that  there  shall  be  peace  in  our  land. 
The  passions  of  hate  and  malice  may  linger  in  meaner 
breasts,  but  we  find  ourselves  upheld  in  our  generous 
purposes  by  those  who  showed  true  courage  and  man 
hood  on  the  field  of  battle.  (Cheers.)  In  the  spirit, 
then,  of  George  Washington  and  of  the  patriots  of 
the  revolution,  let  us  take  the  steps  to  reinaugurate 
our  Government,  to  start  it  once  again  on  its  course 
to  greatness  and  prosperity.  (Loud  cheers.)  May 
Almighty  God  give  us  the  wisdom  to  carry  out  our 
purposes,  to  give  to  every  State  of  our  Union  the 
blessings  of  peace,  good  order,  and  fraternal  affec 
tion." 


248  LIFE    OF   HORATIO   SEYMOUR. 

Mr.  Seymour  closed  amid  long-continued  and  tre 
mendous  cheering. 

The  Convention  then  proceeded  to  transact  its  bu 
siness.  A  number  of  resolutions  were  adopted,  and  it 
was  resolved  that  no  balloting  for  a  candidate  for  the 
Presidency  or  Vice-Presidency  should  be  had  until  a 
platform  was  adopted. 

The  Committee  on  Resolutions  were  busily  engaged 
during  the  day  in  preparing  the  platform,  and  did  not 
make  their  report  until  Tuesday  morning,  when  the 
platform,  as  reported  by  them,  through  their  Chairman 
Mr.  Murphy,  was  unanimously  adopted.  It  is  as  fol 
lows  : 

"  The  Democratic  Party  in  National  Convention 
assembled,  reposing  its  trust  in  the  intelligence,  pa 
triotism,  and  discriminating  justice  of  the  people,  stand 
ing  upon  the  Constitution  as  the  foundation  and  limita 
tion  of  the  powers  of  the  Government,  and  the 
guarantee  of  the  liberties  of  the  citizen  ;  and  recogniz 
ing  the  questions  of  slavery  and  secession  as  having 
been  settled  for  all  time  to  come — (tremendous  cheer 
ing) — by  the  war  or  the  voluntary  action  of  the  South 
ern  States  in  Constitutional  Convention  assembled, 
and  never  to  be  renewed  or  re-agitated,  do  with  the  re 
turn  of  peace  demand : 

"  First — Immediate  restoration  of  all  the  States  to 
their  rights  in  the  "Union  under  the  Constitution,  and 
of  civil  government  to  the  American  people.  (Cheers.) 

"  Second — Amnesty  for  all  past  political  offences, 
and  the  regulation  of  the  elective  franchise  in  the 
States  by  their  citizens.  (Cheers.) 


THE   DEMOCRATIC    PLATFORM.  249 

'-'-Third — Payment  of  the  public  debt  of  the  United 
States  as  rapidly  as  practicable  ;  alb  moneys  drawn 
from  the  people  by  taxation,  except  so  much  as  is  re 
quisite  for  the  necessities  of  the  Government,  econom 
ically  administered,  being  honestly  applied  to  such 
payment ;  and  where  the  obligations  of  the  Govern 
ment  do  not  expressly  state  upon  their  face,  or  the  law 
under  which  they  were  issued  does  not  provide,  that 
they  shall  be  paid  in  coin,  they  ought,  in  right  and  in 
justice,  to  be  paid  in  the  lawful  money  of  the  United 
States.  (Thunders  of  applause.) 

"  Fourth — Equal  taxation  of  every  species  of  prop 
erty  according  to  its  real  value,  including  Govern 
ment  bonds  and  other  public  securities.  (Renewed 
cheering  and  cries  of  '  Read  it  again."1) 

"Fifth — One  currency  for  the  Government  and 
the  people,  the  laborer  and  the  office-holder,  the  pen 
sioner  and  the  soldier,  the  producer  and  the  bond 
holder.  (Great  cheering  and  cries  of  '  Read  it  again.') 
The  fifth  resolution  was  again  read  and  again  cheered. 

"Sixth — Economy  in  the  administration  of  the 
Government ;  the  reduction  of  the  standing  army  and 
navy ;  the  abolition  of  the  Freedmen's  Bureau — (great 
cheering) — and  all  political  instrumentalities  designed 
to  secure  negro  supremacy ;  simplification  of  the  sys 
tem,  and  discontinuance  of  inquisitorial  modes  of  as 
sessing  and  collecting  Internal  Revenue,  so  that  the 
burden  of  taxation  may  be  equalized  and  lessened ;  the 
credit  of  the  Government  and  the  currency  made  good ; 
the  repeal  of  all  enactments  for  enrolling  the  State 
militia  into  national  forces  in  time  of  peace ;  and  a 


250  LIFE   OF  HORATIO   SEYMOtR. 

tariff  for  revenue  upon  foreign  imports,  and  such  equal 
taxation  under  the  Internal  Revenue  laws  as  will 
afford  incidental  protection  to  domestic  manufactures, 
and  as  will,  without  impairing  the  revenue,  impose 
the  least  burden  upon,  and  yet  promote  and  encourage 
the  great  industrial  interests  of  the  country. 

"  Seventh — Reform  of  abuses  in  the  administration, 
the  expulsion  of  corrupt  men  from  office,  the  abroga 
tion  of  useless  offices,  the  restoration  of  rightful  author 
ity  to,  and  the  independence  of,  the  executive  and 
judicial  departments  of  the  Government,  the  subordina 
tion  of  the  military  to  the  civil  power,  to  the  end  that 
the  usurpation  of  Congress  and  the  despotism  of  the 
sword  may  cease.  (Cheers.) 

a  Eighth — Equal  rights  and  protection  for  natural 
ized  and  native-born  citizens  at  home  and  abroad,  the 
assertion  of  American  nationality  which  shall  command 
the  respect  of  foreign  powers,  and  furnish  an  example 
and  encouragement  to  people  struggling  for  national 
integrity,  constitutional  liberty  and  individual  rights, 
and  the  maintenance  of  the  rights  of  naturalized  citi 
zens  against  the  absolute  doctrine  of  immutable  allegi 
ance,  and  the  claims  of  foreign  powers  to  punish  them 
for  alleged  crime  committed  beyond  their  jurisdiction. 
(Loud  applause.) 

"In  demanding  these  measures  and  reforms,  we 
arraign  the  Radical  party  for  its  disregard  of  right  and 
the  unparalleled  oppression  and  tyranny  which  have 
marked  its  career. 

"  After  the  most  solemn  and  unanimous  pledge  of 
both  Houses  of  Congress  to  prosecute  the  war  exclu- 


THE   DEMOCRATIC    PLATFORM.  251 

sively  for  the  maintenance  of  the  Government  and  the 
preservation  of  the  Union  under  the  Constitution,  it 
has  repeatedly  violated  that  most  sacred  pledge  under 
which  alone  was  rallied  that  noble  volunteer  army 
which  carried  our  flag  to  victory.  (Cheers.)  Instead 
of  restoring  the  Union  it  has,  so  far  as  in  its  power, 
dissolved  it,  and  subjected  ten  States,  in  time  of  pro 
found  peace,  to  military  despotism  and  negro  suprem 
acy.  It  has  nullified  there  the  right  of  trial  by  jury ; 
it  has  abolished  the  habeas  corpus,  that  most  sacred 
writ  of  liberty ;  it  has  overthrown  the  freedom  of 
speech  and  the  press ;  it  has  substituted  arbitrary 
seizures  and  arrests,  and  military  trials  and  secret 
star-chamber  inquisitions  for  the  constitutional  tri 
bunals  ;  it  has  disregarded  in  time  of  peace  the  right 
of  the  people  to  be  free  from  searches  and  seizures ;  it- 
has  entered  the  post  and  telegraph  offices,  and  even 
the  private  rooms  of  individuals,  and  seized  their 
private  papers  and  letters  without  any  specific  charge 
or  notice  of  affidavit,  as  required  by  the  organic  law  ; 
it  has  converted  the  American  capitol  into  a  bastile ; 
it  has  established  a  system  of  spies  and  official  es 
pionage  to  which  no  constitutional  monarchy  of  Eu 
rope  would  now  dare  to  resort — (cheers),  it  would 
abolish  the  right  of  appeal  on  important  constitutional 
questions  to  the  supreme  judicial  tribunal,  and  threatens 
to  curtail  or  destroy  its  original  jurisdiction  which  is 
irrevocably  vested  by  the  Constitution,  while  the 
learned  Chief-Justice— (loud  cheering) — has  been  sub 
jected  to  the  most  atrocious  calumnies,  merely  because 
he  would  not  prostitute  his  high  office  to  the  support 


252  LIFE    OF   HORATIO    SEYMOUR. 

of  the  false  and  partisan  charges  preferred  against  the 
President.  Its  corruption  and  extravagance  have  ex 
ceeded  everything  known  in  history,  and  by  its  frauds 
and  monopolies  it  has  nearly  doubled  the  burden  of 
the  debt  created  by  the  war.  It  has  stripped  the 
President  of  his  constitutional  power  of  appointment, 
even  of  his  own  Cabinet.  Under  its  repeated  assaults 
the  pillars  of  the  Government  are  rocking  on  their 
base,  and  should  it  succeed  in  November  next  and  in 
augurate  its  President,  we  will  meet  as  a  subjected 
and  conquered  people  amid  the  ruins  of  liberty  and 
scattered  fragments  of  the  Constitution. 

"  And  we  do  declare  and  resolve  that  ever  since 
the  people  of  the  United  States  threw  off  all  subjection 
to  the  British  crown,  the  privilege  and  trust  of  suffrage 
have  belonged  to  the  several  States,  and  have  been 
granted,  regulated,  and  controlled  exclusively  by  the 
political  power  of  each  State  respectively,  and  that  any 
attempt  by  Congress,  on  any  pretext  whatever,  to  de 
prive  any  State  of  this  right,  or  interfere  with  its  exer 
cise,  is  a  flagrant  usurpation  of  power  which  can  find 
no  warrant  in  the  Constitution,  and  if  sanctioned  by 
the  people  will  subvert  our  form  of  Government,  and 
can  only  end  in  a  single  centralized  and  consolidated 
government  in  which  the  separate  existence  of  the 
States  will  be  entirely  absorbed,  and  an  unqualified 
despotism  be  established  in  place  of  a  Federal  Union 
of  coequal  States. 

"  And  that  we  regard  the  Reconstruction  acts  (so- 
called)  of  Congress,  as  such,  as  usurpations  and  un 
constitutional,-  revolutionary  and  void. 


THE   DEMOCRATIC    PLATFORM.  253 

"  That  our  soldiers  and  sailors  who  carried  the  flag 
of  our  country  to  victory  against  a  most  gallant  and 
determined  foe  must  ever  be  gratefully  remembered, 
and  all  the  guarantees  given  in  their  favor  must  be 
faithfully  carried  into  execution.  (Cheers.) 

"  That  the  public  lands  should  be  distributed  as 
widely  as  possible  among  the  people,  and  should  be 
disposed  of  either  under  the  preemption  of  homestead 
lands,  or  sold  in  reasonable  quantities,  and  to  none  but 
actual  occupants,  at  the  minimum  price  established  by 
the  Government.  When  grants  of  public  lands  may 
be  allowed,  necessary  for  the  encouragement  of  im 
portant  public  improvements,  the  proceeds  of  the  sale 
of  such  lands,  and  not  the  lands  themselves,  should  be 
applied.  (Cheers.) 

-That  the  President  of  the  United  States,  Andrew 
Johnson — (applause) — in  exercising  the  power  of  his 
high  office  in  resisting  the  aggressions  of  Congress  upon 
the  constitutional  rights  of  the  States  and  the  people, 
is  entitled  to  the  gratitude  of  the  whole  American 
people,  and  in  behalf  of  the  Democratic  party  we  tender 
him  our  thanks  for  his  patriotic  efforts  in  that  regard. 
(Great  applause.) 

"  Upon  this  platform  the  Democratic  party  appeal 
to  every  patriot,  including  the  conservative  element 
and  all  who  desire  to  support  the  Constitution  and  re 
store  the  Union,  forgetting  all  past  differences  of  opin 
ion,  to  unite  with  us  in  the  present  great  struggle  for 
the  liberties  of  the  people — (cheers) — and  that  to  all 
such,  to  whatever  party  they  may  have  heretofore  be 
longed,  we  extend  the  right  hand  of  fellowship,  and 


254  LIFE    OF   HORATIO    SEYMOUR. 

hail  all  such  cooperating  with  us  as  friends  and  breth 
ren.     (Loud  cheering. )  " 

Mr.  Murphy  stated  to  the  Convention  that  the 
Committee  had  given  this  platform  their  unanimous 
approval,  and  in  view  of  this  unanimity,  he  moved  the 
previous  question  upon  the  adoption  of  the  resolutions. 
The  previous  question  was  seconded,  and  the  Chair  put 
the  question  upon  the  adoption  of  the  platform.  A 
unanimous  vote  was  given,  viva  voce,  in  the  affirmative. 
When  the  call  was  made  for  those  opposed  to  the  res 
olutions,  a  dead  silence  prevailed  in  the  hall.  Not  a 
voice  was  raised  against  them.  Then  burst  forth  a 
storm  of  cheers  and  applause  that  fairly  shook  the 
building  to  its  foundations.  This  continued  for  several 
minutes. 

Upon  this  bold  and  fearless  enunciation  of  their 
principles,  the  Democracy  of  the  Union  intend  to  carry 
the  countrv  with  them  in  the  coming  election.  Their 
cause  is  the  cause  of  the  country,  of  economy,  of  justice, 
and  of  liberty ;  and  not  even  the  strong  arm  of  the 
military  power  upon  which  their  adversaries  rely,  can 
prevent  their  success. 

The  Convention  then  adopted  the  utwo  thirds  rule" 
of  the  former  Conventions  of  the  party ;  and  after  a 
slight  delay,  the  Secretary  proceeded  to  call  the  roll 
of  States  for  nominations  for  a  candidate  for  the  Pres 
idency. 

The  State  of  Connecticut  presented  the  name  of 
Governor  Jas.  E.  English ;  Maine  nominated  Major- 
General  W.  S.  Hancock;  Ohio,  her  favorite  son,  George 
H.Pendleton;  New  Jersey,  Ex-Governor  Parker ;  New 


THE    BALLOTING.  255 

York,  Sandford  E.  Church ;  Pennsylvania,  Asa  Packer ; 
Tennessee,  President  Andrew  Johnson  ;  and  Wisconsin, 
Jas.  K.  Doolittle. 

The  balloting  was  then  begun.  On  the  first  ballot, 
nearly  all  the  Southern  States  cast  their  votes  for  An 
drew  Johnson,  of  Tennessee,  as  a  mark  of  their  grati 
tude  for  his  noble  efforts  in  their  behalf.  Six  ballots 
were  taken  without  any  thing  definite  being  accom 
plished,  when  the  Convention  adjourned  for  the  day. 
On  Wednesday,  the  8th,  the  National  Executive  Com 
mittee  for  the  ensuing  year  was  appointed,  and  the 
balloting  resumed.  Twelve  ballots  were  taken  during 
the  day.  The  eighth  ballot  stood  thus  : 

Whole  number  of  votes  cast,  31 7. 

James  E.  English 6 

W.  S.  Hancock 28 

George  H.  Pendleton .     .     .  156J 

Joel  Parker 7 

Asa  Packer 26 

Andrew  Johnson 6 

James  E.  Doolittle 12 

Thomas  A.  Hendricks 75 

Frank  P.  Blair \ 

The  full  strength  of  Mr.  Pendleton  was  drawn  out 
by  this  ballot,  and  from  that  time  it  became  evident 
that  his  friends  would  have  more  difficulty  in  securing 
his  nomination  than  they  expected.  When  the  eight 
eenth  ballot  was  taken,  at  the  close  of  the  day's  pro 
ceedings,  Mr.  Pendleton' s  vote  had  declined  to  56£. 

The  Convention  met  again  on  Thursday  morning. 


256  LIFE    OF   HORATIO    SEYMOUR. 

Two  days  had  now  been  consumed  in  fruitless  ballot 
ing,  and  in  order  to  bring  about  a  speedy  choice  on 
the  part  of  the  Convention,  Mr.  Pendleton's  friends,  in 
obedience  to  his  instructions,  withdrew  his  name  as  a 
candidate  for  the  Presidency.  Soon  after  the  opening 
of  the  morning  session,  Mr.  Vallandigham,  of  Ohio, 
rose  and  said : 

"  Mr.  President,  I  have  a  communication  in  writing 
to  make  to  this  Convention.  By  permission  of  the 
Chair  I  will  read  it  from  the  stand.  (Applause.) 
During  which  Mr.  Vallandigham  made  his^way  to  the 
rostrum. 

"  The  Chair.— Mr.  Vallandigham,  of  Ohio,  will 
make  a  communication  to  the  Convention. 

"Mr.  Vallandigham. — The  following  is  the  com 
munication  to  which  I  refer : 

4  CINCINNATI,  July  2,  1868. 

'  Washington  McLean,  Fifth  Avenue  Hotel,  New  York : 
4  MY  DEAR  SIR  :  You  know  better  than  any  one 
the  feelings  and  principles  which  have  guided  my  con 
duct  since  the  suggestion  of  my  name  for  the  Presi 
dential  nomination.  You  know  that  while  I  covet  the 
good  opinion  of  my  countrymen,  and  would  feel  an 
honest  pride  in  so  distinguished  a  mark  of  their  confi 
dence,  I  do  not  desire  it  at  the  expense  of  one  electoral 
vote — (great  applause) — or  of  the  least  disturbance  of 
the  harmony  of  our  party.  I  consider  the  success  of 
the  Democratic  party  in  the  next  election  of  far  greater 
importance  than  the  gratification  of  any  personal  am 
bition,  however  pure  and  lofty  it  might  be.  (Loud 


WITHDRAWAL    OF    MR.  PENDLETON.  257 

cheers.)  If,  therefore,  at  any  time  a  man  shall  be  sug 
gested  which,  in  the  opinion  of  yourself  and  those 
friends  who  have  shared  our  confidence,  shall  be  stronger 
before  the  country,  or  which  can  more  thoroughly  unite 
our  own  party,  I  beg  that  you  will  instantly  withdraw 
my  name,  and  pledge  to  the  Convention  my  hearty 
and  zealous  and  active  support  for  its  nominee. 
'  Yours  very  truly, 

4  GEORGE  H.  PENDLETON.' 
(Great  cheering.) 

"  Mr*  Vallandigham. — At  the  request  of  the  gentle 
man  to  whom  this  letter  is  addressed,  I  submit  it  to 
this  Convention.  It  was  his  desire  that  it  should  have 
been  done  very  early  in  the  afternoon  of  yesterday ; 
but  the  earnest  zeal  and  fidelity  of  the  Ohio  delegation, 
and  the  distinguished  son  of  Ohio  whom  they  had 
presented  to  the  Convention  for  the  office  of  President, 
precluded  their  consent  to  any  such  proposition.  This 
morning  his  request  has  been  renewed,  and  in  conform 
ity  with  it  I  have  produced  and  read  the  letter,  and 
submit  tjhat  the  spirit  of  magnanimity,  unselfishness, 
and  of  patriotic  devotion  to  the  interests  of  the  country, 
speak  in  terms  of  far  higher  eulogy  in  behalf  of  this 
distinguished  gentleman  than  any  words  I  could  utter. 
(Great  applause.)  Pursuant,  therefore,  to  the  author 
ity  of  Mr.  McLean,  and  acting  under  the  advice  of 
Mr.  Pendleton,  I  withdraw  his  name  with  hearty  thanks 
to  the  multitude  of  earnest,  zealous,  and  devoted  friends 
who  have  adhered  to  him  with  so  great  fidelity.  (Ap 
plause  long  continued,  and  cheers  for  Pendleton.) 

"The  Chairman. — Mr.  Vallandigham, :  by  tah®  ik- 
17 

I 


.  •' 

-: 


. 

•-. 


258  LIFE    OF   HORATIO    SEYMOUR. 

struction  of  the  Ohio  delegation,  withdraws  the  name 
of  George  H.  Pendleton  as  a  candidate  for  the  Presi 
dency  before  the  Convention,  and  he  does  so  by  the 
direction  of  Mr.  Pendleton  himself.  We  will  now 
proceed  with  the  nineteenth  ballot." 

Two  more  ballots  were  then  taken,  Judge  Field 
and  Gen.  F.  P.  Blair  having  been  placed  in  nomina 
tion,  but  without  a  choice  being  made. 

Mr.  Pendleton,  in  the  letter  we  have  given  at  the 
commencement  of  this  chapter,  had,  as  the  reader  will 
remember,  plainly  declared  his  preference  for  Governor 
Seymour  as  the  candidate  of  the  party,  and  his  friends 
in  the  Convention  now  resolved  to  be  guided  by  his 
wishes,  and  urge  the  nomination  of  Mr.  Seymour  in 
such  a  mariner  as  would  make  it  plain  to  that  gentle 
man  that  it  was  his  duty  to  the  conservative  element 
of  the  country  to  lay  aside  his  personal  wishes  and  yield 
to  the  judgment  of  the  Convention.  They  had  stood 
by  Mr.  Pendleton  faithfully,  until  his  disinterested 
devotion  to  the  country  had  forced  them  to  withdraw 
his  name,  and  they  now  determined  to  rally  upon  the 
leader  whom  their  own  beloved  chief  had  offered  them. 
The  movement  was  entirely  without  premeditation, 
and  was  the  result  of  one  of  those  happy  inspirations 
which  are  the  sure  harbingers  of  victory. 

Upon  the  announcement  of  the  twenty-first  ballot, 
General  McCook  rose,  and  to  the  surprise  of  the  Con 
vention,  spoke  as  follows: 

"  Mr.  Chairman  :  I  arise  at  the  unanimous  request 
and  the  demand  of  the  delegation  from  Ohio,  and  with 
the  consent  and  approval  of  every  public  man  in 


/ 


NOMINATION    OF    MR.  SEYMOUR.  259 

State,  including  the  Hon.  George  H.  Pendleton,  to 
again  place  in  nomination,  against  his  inclination,  but 
no  longer  against  his  honor,  the  name  of  Horatio 
Seymour,  of  New  York.  (Rousing  cheers  and  long- 
continued  applause.)  Let  us  vote,  Mr.  Chairman,  and 
gentlemen  of  the  Convention,  for  a  man  whom  the 
Presidency  has  sought,  but  who  has  not  sought  the 
Presidency.  (Applause.)  I  believe  in  my  heart  that 
it  is  the  solution  of  the  problem  which  has  been  engag 
ing  the  minds  of  the  Democrats  and  Conservative  men 
of  this  nation  for  the  last  six  months.  (t;  Good," 
"  good.")  I  believe  it  will  have  a  solution  which  will 
drive  from  power  the  Vandals  who  now  possess  the 
Capitol  of  the  nation.  (Applause.)  I  believe  it  will 
receive  the  unanimous  assent  and  approval  of  the  great 
belt  of  States  from  the  Atlantic — New  York,  New 
Jersey,  Pennsylvania,  Ohio,  Indiana,  Michigan,  Illi 
nois,  and  Missouri,  and  away  West  for  quantity — to 
the  Pacific  Ocean.  (Applause.)  I  say  that  he  has  not 
sought  the  Presidency,  and  I  ask — not  demand — I  ask 
that  this  Convention  shall  demand  of  him  that,  sinking 
his  own  inclination  and  the  well-known  desires  on  his 
part,  he  shall  yield  to  what  we  believe  to  be  the  almost 
unanimous  wish  and  desire  of  the  delegates  to  this 
Convention.  (Great  applause  and  three  cheers.)  In 
my  earnestness  and  enthusiasm,  I  had  almost  forgotten 
to  cast  the  twenty-one  votes  of  Ohio  for  Horatio 
Seymour.  (Tremendous  excitement,  and  nine  cheers 
for  Horatio  Seymour.) " 

The  nomination  was  hailed  with  the  wildest  ap 
plause,  and  the  surprise  of  the  Convention  at  this  sud- 


260  LIFE    OF    HORATIO    SEYMOUR. 

<len  move  of  the  Pendleton  men  changed  at  6nce  to 
the  greatest  delight. 

Mr.  Seymour  was  taken  completely  by  surprise. 
His  refusal  to  be  a  candidate  had  been  so  emphatic 
that  he  had  not  the  least  idea  that  anv  one  would 

p 

venture  to  place  him  in  nomination,  and  as  soon  as 
the  applause  which  followed  General  McCook's  re 
marks  subsided,  he  advanced  to  the  front  of  the  plat 
form  to  decline  the  honor  thus  proffered  him.  He 
said,  in  a  voice  unsteady  with  the  grateful  emotions 
which  this  unexpected  and  overwhelming  tribute  of 
the  Convention  had  aroused  in  his  heart : 

u  GENTLEMEN  OF  THE  CONVENTION  :  (Cheers) — The 
motion  just  made  by  the  gentleman  from  Ohio  excites 
in  my  mind  the  most  mingled  emotions.  (Applause.) 
I  have  no  terms  in  which  to  express  my  gratitude — 
(cheers) — for  the  magnanimity  of  his  State  and  for  the 
generosity  of  this  Convention.  (Cheers.)  I  have  no 
terms  in  which  to  tell  of  my  regret  that  my  name  has 
been  brought  before  this  Convention.  God  knows  that 
my  life  and  all  that  I  value  most  in  life  !•  would  give 
for  the  good  of  my  country,  which  I  believe  to  be 
identified  with  our  own  party.  (Applause,  and  cries 
of  u  Take  the  nomination  then.")  I  do  not  stand  here 
as  a  man  proud  of  his  opinions,  or  obstinate  in  his 
purposes,  but  upon  a  question  of  duty  and  of  honor  I 
must  stand  upon  my  own  convictions  against  the  world. 
(Applause,  and  a  voice,  u  God  bless  you,  Horatio  Sey 
mour/1)  Gentlemen,  when  I  said  here  at  an  early  day, 
that  honor  forbade  my  accepting  a  nomination  by  this 
Convention,  I  meant  it.  When,  in  the  course  of  my 


V 

SEYMOUR'S  REMARKS. 

intercourse  with  those  of  my  own  delegation  and  mj 
friends,  I  said  to  them  that  I  could  not  be  a  candidate, 
I  meant  it.  And  now  permit  me  here  to  say  that  t 
know,  after  all  that  has  taken  place.  I  could  not  re 
ceive  the  nomination  without  placing,  not  onlv  myself, 
but  the  great  Democratic  party,  in  a  false  position. 
But,  gentlemen  of  the  Convention,  more  than  that,' we 
have  had  to-day  an  exhibition  from  the  distinguished 
citizen  of  Ohio,  that  has  touched  my  heart,  as  it  has 
touched  yours.  (Cheers.)  I  thank  God,  and  I  con 
gratulate  this  country,  that  there  is  in  the  great  State 
of  Ohio,  whose  magnificent  position  give  it  so  great  a 
control  over  the  action  of  cur  countrv.  a  young  man, 
rising  fast  into  fame,  whose  future  is  all  glorious,  who 
has  told  the  world  he  could  tread  beneath  his  feet  every 
other  consideration  than  that  of  duty,  and  when  he 
expressed  to  his  delegation,  and  expressed  in  more 
direct  terms,  that  he  was  willing  that  I  should  be  nom 
inated,  who  stood  in  such  a  position  of  marked  oppo 
sition  to  his  own  nomination,  I  should  feel  a  dishonored 
man  if  I  could  not  tread  in  the  far  distance,  and  in  a 
feeble  way,  the  same  honorable  pathway  which  he  has 
marked  out.  (Great  applause.)  Gentlemen,  I  thank 
you,  and  may  God  bless  you  for  your  kindness  to  me ; 
but  your  candidate  I  cannot  be.""  (Three  cheers  for 
Horatio  Seymour.) 

This  plain  refusal  did  not  in  the  least  abate  the  en 
thusiasm  of  the  Convention  or  lessen  the  determina 
tion  of  the  delegates.  As  Mr.  Seymour  resumed  his 
seat,  Mr.  Vallandigham  rose,  and  in  clear  sonorous 
tones  declared  that  the  Governor  had  no  right  to  de- 


• 


262  LIFE    OF   HORATIO    SEYMOUR. 

cline  the  nomination  in  view  of  the  unusual  circum 
stances  of  the  case.  Said  he : 

t;In  times  of  great  public  exigency,  and  especially 
in  times  of  great  public  calamity,  every  personal  con 
sideration  must  be  yielded  to  the  public  good.  (Ap 
plause.)  The  safety  of  the  people  is  the  supreme  law, 
and  the  safety  of  the  American  Republic  demands  the 
nomination  of  Horatio  Seymour,  of  New  York. 
(Cheers.)  Ohio  carinot ;  Ohio  will  not  accept  his  dec 
lination,  and  her  twenty-one  votes  shall  stand  recorded 
in  his  name.  (Cries  of  agood,  good,"  and  cheers.) 
And  now  I  call  upon  the  delegations  from  all  the 
States  represented  on  this  floor ;  upon  the  delegations 
from  all  the  States  of  this  Union,  from  the  Atlantic 
to  the  Pacific,  from  the  great  lakes  to  the  gulf,  disre 
garding  those  minor  considerations  which  justly,  it  may 
be,  properly  I  know,  tend  to  sway  them  in  casting 
their  ballots,  to  make  this  nomination  unanimous  ;  and 
before  God,  I  believe  that  in  November,  the  judgment 
of  this  Convention  will  be  confirmed  and  ratified  by 
the  people  of  all  the  United  States.  (Applause.) 
Let  the  vote  of  Ohio  stand  recorded  then — twenty-one 
votes  for  Horatio  Seymour.  (Immense  and  continued 
applause.) 

"Mr.  KERNAN  (New  York) — Mr.  President:  Be 
longing  to  the  delegation  from  the  State  of  New  York, 
and  coming  from  the  district  where  the  President  of 
this  Convention  lives,  I  cannot,  as  an  individual  dele 
gate,  refrain  from  asking  the  indulgence  of  this  Con 
vention  in  making  one  or  two  observations.  And  in 
order  that  we  may  relieve  every  body,  in  order  that 


SPEECH    OF    MR.  KERNAN.  263 

we  may  relieve  our  Chairman  from  every  bit  of  sen 
sitiveness  on  the  question  of  honor,  I  desire  to  say, 
1  on  behalf  of  the  delegation  from  the  State  of  New 
York,  that  they  have  had  neither  lot  nor  part  in 
the  motion,  which  in  our  hearts  we  yet  rejoice  to  hear 
from  the  State  of  Ohio.  (Applause.)  We  heard  but 
recently  that  some  such  movement  was  thought,  by 
wise  and  good  men,  necessary  for  the  safety  of  our 
country,  but  our  hearts  were  coerced  out  of  deference 
to  the  sensitiveness  of  the  gentleman  who  presides 
over  this  Convention,  and  we  told  them  we  could  have 
neither  lot  nor  part  in  it,  unless  others  overcome  that 
which  we  had  never  been  able  to  do.  Now,  sir,  let 
me  say  another  word  ;  we  have  balloted  two  or  three 
days;  we  have  balloted,  thank  God,  in  the  best  of 
temper  and  of  spirits ;  we  have  resolved,  and  we  re 
quired  the  judgment  of  two-thirds  of  the  delegates  of 
this  Convention  for  our  nominee;  to  the  end  that  we 
might  be  sure,  for  the  sake  of  our  country,  that  we 
would  have  a  majority  of  the  electors  next  November. 
And  after  striving  hard,  after  striving  long,  and  after 
consulting  as  well  as  we  could  in  reference  to  the  vari 
ous  names  brought  before  us,  we  have  not  been  able 
yet  to  convince  the  judgment  of  two-thirds  of  the  Con 
vention  for  the  candidates  we  have  supported.  New 
York  has  steadily  voted  her  judgment  with  kind  feel 
ings  to  other  candidates.  We  have  pronounced  as  our 
second  choice  for  a  distinguished  citizen  of  Indiana. 
But  it  seems  to  me  that  after  this  long  struggle,  and 
in  this  crisis  of  our  affairs,  and  in  view  of  what  is  so 
important  to  every  man,  woman  and  child  in  this 


264  LIFE    OF    HORATIO    SEYMOUR. 

Union — that  we  should  succeed  in  November — it 
seems  to  me  now,  in  reference  to  our  distinguished 
Chairman,  that  his  honor  is  entirely  safe.  No  one  can 
doubt  that  he  has  steadily  and  in  good  faith  declined ; 
but  now  his  honor  is  safe,  and  his  duty  to  his  country, 
his  duty  to  his  fellow-citizens,  to  all  that  shall  come 
after  us,  requires  that  he  shall  let  the  judgment  of  the 
delegates  of  this  Convention  prevail ;  and  if  it  should 
select  him  as  the  standard-bearer,  most  certain,  in 
their  opinion,  to  win  a  triumph  for  the  country  next 
November.  (Applause.)  We  leave  it  in  the  hands 
of  others,  as  we  are  constrained  to  do ;  but  I  give  it 
as  my  judgment,  for  the  past,  the  present,  and  the 
future,  that  if  we  should  select  him  as  the  man,  in 
our  judgment,  upon  whom  we  can  all  unite,  New 
York  will  fall  in  and  give  a  majority  of  a  hundred 
thousand  without  a  canvass.  (Great  cheers.)" 

The  Secretary  then  continued  to  call  the  roll  of  the 
States,  each  delegation  answering  with  a  unanimous  vote 
for  Horatio  Seymour.  The  States  which  had  already 
voted  now  changed  their  votes  to  Seymour,  and>it  re 
quired  no  prophet  to  foresee  that  there  would  be  no 
division  of  the  vote  this  time.  The  balloting  was  car 
ried  on  amidst  the  wildest  excitement.  Cheer  after  cheer 
rang  through  the  vast  building;  the  audience  and 
delegates  sprang  to  their  feet  and  waved  their  hats  and 
handkerchiefs,  and  Mr.  Seymour,  seeing  that  he  could 
not  in  justice  to  himself  or  the  country,  refuse  longer 
to  yield  to  the  current  which  was  sweeping  every  thing 
before  it,  relinquished  the  chair  to  a  Vice- President, 
and  Avithdrew  to  the  body  of  the  hall.  Order  being 
partially  restored,  the  Chairman  said: 


SCENE    IN    THE    CONVENTION.  265 

"  The  Honorable  Horatio  Seymour  having  received 
the  unanimous  vote  of  this  Convention,  I  therefore 
declare  him  candidate,  and  the  standardbearer  of  the 
Democratic  party  in  the  ensuing  election." 

Again  the  hall  rang  with  cheers.  The  enthusiasm 
of  the  Convention  spread  to  the  crowds  in  the  street 
without,  and  cheer  after  cheer  greeted  the  annnounce- 
ment. 

Never  was  the  nomination  of  any  public  man  for 
any  position  more  enthusiastically  made  or  received 
than  was  that  of  Mr.  Seymour.* 

*  The  following  card  from  Mr.  Vallandigliam,  which  appeared  in  the 
New  York  Herald  of  July  26th,  sets  at  rest  the  slanders  which  the 
enemies  of  Mr.  Seymour  have  set  on  foot. 

"  THE  TAMMANY  NOMINATIONS— LETTER  FROM  MR.  VAL 
LANDIGHAM. 

VALLANDIGHAM     AND   TWO   NEW    YOEK     DELEGATES    EESPONSIBLE    FOE    6EY- 
MOUE'S   NOMINATION. 

'  Every  day  brings  to  light  some  new  feature  in  the  conduct  of  the 
managers  of  the  Democratic  Convent'on.  It  is  now  understood  that  the 
night  preceding  the  nomination  the  Ohio  delegation  met,  and  having  care 
fully  canvassed  the  situation,  again  determined  to  support  Pendleton. 
With  this  understanding  the  delegation  adjourned.  Later  in  the  night 
Vallandigham  and  two  New  York  delegates  had  a  consultation,  which 
lasted  until  daylight. 

*  When  the  Convention  met,  Ohio  instead  of  voting  for  Pendleton, 
withdrew  his  name,  and  hefore  the   delegation  knew  what  they  were 
about  the  name  of  Seymour  was  hoisted  and  carried  through  with  a  rush. 
When  this  trick  was  discovered  there  was  great  outcry  among  the  Ohio- 
ans,  and  Vallandigham,  General  McCook,  Pugh  and  Thurraan,  who  were 
discovered  to  have  been  the  perpetrators,  were  alluded  to  in  no  very  tem 
perate  epithets. 

'The?e  men  the  democratic  party  must  hold  responsible  for  the  humil 
iating  attitude  it  holds  before  the  eyes  of  the  nation,  and  nt  their  door 
should  be  laid  the  blame  of  the  sacrifice  of  so  fair  a  prospect  of  success.'— 
Washington  correspondence  of  New  York  Herald,  July  16. ' 

"  In  the  above  are  many  inaccuracies. 


266  LIFE    OF   HORATIO    SEYMOUE. 

After  the  announcement  of  the  nomination,   the 
Convention  adjourned  until  the  afternoon. 

"  1.  The  OLio  delegation  did  not  the  night  before  the  nomination 
determine  to  continue  to  support  Pendleton.  On  the  contrary,  McLean 
gave  distinct  notice  to  the  delegation  that  in  the  morning  he  would  pre 
sent  Mr.  Pendleton's  letter  of  declination.  Some  time  later  than  mid 
night  the  delegation,  after  a  hot  debate,  adjourned,  without  agreeing 
upon  a  candidate.  In  the  morning  they  met ;  Hancock  received  a  major 
ity  of  the  votes  ;  there  was  much  excitement,  and  finally  it  was  resolved 
to  cast  the  first  ballot  for  Packer.  Seymour  was  canvassed  and  found  to 
be  acceptable  whenever  it  should  be  deemed  advisable  to  present  his  name. 

"2.  Vallandigham  did  not  meet  with  two  delegates,  nor  with  one  or 
any,  from  New  York,  at  all  that  night,  much  less  consult  with  them  till 
daylight.  In  the  morning,  upon  the  assembling  of  the  Convention,  he 
learned  personally  and  definitely  that  the  New  York  delegation  did  not 
feel  at  liberty  to  support  Seymour,  and  replied  that  if  necessary  he  would 
be  put  in  nomination  notwithstanding. 

"3.  Seymour's  name  was  not  'hoisted'  before  the  Ohio  delegation 
knew  what  they  were  about.  Colonel  McCook  called  the  delegation  out, 
and  by  vote  was  instructed  to  put  Seymour  in  nomination. 

"  4.  There  was  no  4  trick,'  and  therefore  no  *  discovery,'  and,  of 
course,  no  l  outcry '  from  Ohioans  on  the  subject. 

u  5.  Neither  Mr.  Pugh  nor  Judge  Thurman  was  present  nor  had 
knowledge  of  the  movement,  and  no  epithets,  *  temperate '  or  other 
wise,  were  applied  to  them,  nor  to  any  body  else. 

"  6.  The  men  who  were  responsible  for  the  nomination  of  Governor 
Seymour  rejoice,  no  doubt,  in  the  responsibility,  especially  in  view  of 
the  strong  and  rapidly  increasing  probabilities  of  his  election. 

"  7.  As  a  matter  of  opinion  I  believe  that  had  New  York  withheld 
her  vote  from  Mr.  Hendricks,  Judge -Chase  would  have  been  nominated 
within  an  hour. 

*'  So  much  by  way  of  correction.  As  to  the  manner  in  which  the 
nomination  was  partly  brought  about  and  partly  happened  it  is  not  prop 
er  that  any  thing  be  said  further,  except  that  positively  Governor  Sey 
mour  had  no  knowledge  or  intimation  of  the  movement  till  twenty  min 
utes  previous  to  his  nomination,  and  acted  in  good  faith  throughout,  and, 
moreover,  will  go  into  the  Presidential  office  without  a  single  pledge  or 
promise  of  any  kind  made  to  any  one  previous  to  his  nominal  ion. 

"  As  to  the  pretended  exultation  of  a  part  of  the  Republican  press 
over  the  Democratic  nominations,  pay  no  heed  to  it.  It  is  an  old  trick 


ADJOURNMENT    OF   THE    CONVENTION.  267 

In  the  afternoon  the  Convention  re-assembled,  and 
on  the  first  ballot  chose  Major  General  Francis  P. 
Blair,  of  Missouri,  as  the  Democratic  candidate  for 
the  office  of  Vice- President  of  the  United  States,  after 
which  the  Convention  adjourned  sine  die. 

The  Convention  was  the  most  harmonious  and  en 
thusiastic  the  party  has  ever  seen,  and  its  labors  have 
met  with  an  endorsement  from  the  people  which 
promises  a  brilliant  success  for  its  nominees  in  No 
vember.  Everywhere  our  cause  is  triumphing  over 
Radicalism,  and  Americans  of  all  classes  are  waiting 
for  the  day  when  they  shall  have  an  opportunity  of 
following  the  old  Democratic  flag  to  the  most  glorious 
victory  it  has  ever  gleamed  upon. 

and  very  shallow.  The  more  sagacious  and  candid  Republican  orgon?, 
such  as  the  New  York  Times  and  Commercial  Advertiser,  advise  their 
friends  l  to  stop  trifling  and  boasting  ar.d  set  to  work  without  delay.' 
And  the  Advertiser  declares  that  *  Seymour  is  the  most  popular  man  in 
the  democratic  party.' 

u  Elections  alre.-idy  held  within  a  year  show  that  the  Democracy  are 
almost  in  the  ascendency  in  States  enough  to  give  a  majority  of  electoral 
votes  to  Seymour  and  Blair.  Add  now  to  these  that  vast  multitude  of 
burdened,  wronged,  oppressed  and  discontented  people  among  the  Repub 
lican  masses,  and  who  are  determined  to  'have  a  change,'  and  success 
in  November  is  certain. 

"  I  have  now  myself  been  in  New  York,  New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania, 
Maryland  and  Delaware,  and  can  say  with  truth  that  among  the  Demo 
cratic  masses  no  nominations  have  been  made  for  years  which  are  receiv 
ed  with  so  much  satisfaction,  and  that  I  have  never  known  a  time  when 
among  these  masses  there  was  such  universal  confidence  in  success.  Noth 
ing  now  is  needed  but  combined  wisdom  and  boldness  in  planning  and 
conducting  the  campaign. 

"  0.  L.  V. 

"  NEWARK,  Del.,  July  18,  1868." 


268 


LIFE    OF    HORATIO    SEYMOUR. 


The  following  is  a  statement  of  all  the  ballots  cast 
for  the  nominee  for  the  Presidency  : 


M 

i 

1 

! 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

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1 

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1 

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P4 

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8 

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3 

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1 

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1 

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5 

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1 

1 

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2 

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CANDIDA 

Pendleton  

Andrew  Johneo 

Church  

Packer  

Joel  Parker.... 

a 

W 

_0 

1 

Reverdy  Johns< 

Hendricka  

vT 

'c3 

2 

P4 
ti 

tl> 

a 

i 

Horatio  Seymot 

& 

McClellan  

i 
6 

Franklin  Pierce 

1 
1 

CHAPTER  XI. 

Mr.  Seymour  Decides  to  Accept  the  Nomination  conferred  upon  him  by 
the  Convention — The  Motives  of  his  Action — Formal  Tender  of  the 
Nomination — Scene  in  Tammany  Hall — Speech  of  General  Morgan 
— Reply  of  Mr.  Seymour — Enthusiasm  of  the  Audience — The  Meet 
ing  in  Fourteenth  Street — Speech  of  Mr.  Seymour — How  the  News 
was  received  throughout  the  Country — Comments  of  the  Press — 
Tributes  from  Republicans — Governor  Seymour  returns  Home — 
Scenes  along  the  Route — Arrival  at  Utica — His  Welcome  Home — 
An  overwhelming  Demonstration — His  Speech  at  Utica— Retires  to 
his  Home — His  Letter  of  Acceptance. 

MR.  SEYMOUR,  as  we  have  said,  had  declined  to 
allow  his  name  to  be  presented  to  the  Convention  for 
the  nomination,  upon  the  assembling  of  that  body,  and 
had  refused  to  accept  the  nomination  when  it  was 
tendered  to  him  by  General  McCooJt,  of  Ohio,  and 
many  persons  were  in  doubt  after  the  adjournment  of 
the  Convention,  as  to  whether  he  would  still  persist  in 
his  refusal.  Had  he  followed  his  own  impulses,  he 
would  most  likely  have  done  so,  but  the  unusual  cir 
cumstances  of  his  nomination  made  him  no  longer  a 
free  agent  in  the  matter.  He  had  been  chosen  against 
his  wishes  and  repeated  requests  not  to  be  put  in 
nomination,  and  the  overwhelming  and  resistless  en 
thusiasm  of  the  Convention  made  it  plain  beyond  all 
doubt  that  he  was  the  free  and  genuine  choice  of  the 
Democratic  party.  In  the  position  in  which  he  had 
been  placed,  he  would  have  been  ungrateful  to  his 


270  LIFE    OF    HORATIO    SEYMOUR. 

friends,  and  untrue  to  his  country,  had  he  still  refused 
to  sacrifice  his  personal  preference  to  the  wishes  of  the 
party  as  expressed  so  emphatically  by  the  Convention. 
His  first  duty  was  to  the  country,  and  the  unhappy 
condition  of  public  affairs  at  this  time  made  that  duty 
doubly  binding  upon  him.  The  great  conservative 
masses  of  the  nation  had  chosen  him  as  the  one  best 
fitted  to  the  task  of  restoring  our  lost  prosperity  and 
the  good  feeling  between  the  various  sections  of  the 
Union,  and  it  was  his  duty  as  a  patriot  to  bow  to  the 
decision  thus  made,  arid  accept  the  honor  thus  con 
ferred  upon  him. 

Taking  this  view  of  the  matter,  Mr.  Seymour  ex 
pressed  his  willingness  to  accept  the  nomination  of  the 
Convention  whenever  it  should  be  formally  tendered 
to  him.  * 

As  a  fitting  finale  to  the  proceedings  of  the  Con 
vention,  it  was  resolved  to  make  a  formal  public  tender 
of  the  nominations  to  the  candidates  on  the  night  after 
the  adjournment  of  that  body,  and  accordingly  on  Fri 
day  night,  July  10th,  a  large  and  brilliant  audience 
assembled  in  Tammany  Hall  to  take  part  in  this 
interesting  proceeding.  The  hall  was  densely  crowded, 
and  Fourteenth  street,  in  front  of  the  building,  was 
thronged  with  an  enthusiastic  multitude.  The  meet 
ing  in  the  hall  was  organized  by  the  choice  of  Mr.  S. 
J.  Tilden  as  President.  Mr.  Tilden  announced  the 
object  of  the  meeting  in  a  few  well-chosen  remarks, 
and  presented  to  the  audience  Mr.  Seymour,  who 
advanced  to  the  front  of  the  platform.  The  vast 
audience  sprang  to  their  feet  simultaneously,  and  cheer 


SCENE   IN   TAMMANY   HALL.  271 

after  cheer  burst  from  them,  and  was  caught  up  and 
reechoed  by  the  crowd  in  the  street.  Scarcely  would 
one  round  of  applause  die  away  before  it  would  be 
succeeded  by  another,  and  for  fully  five  minutes  the 
scene  was  thrilling  beyond  description.  When  order 
was  restored,  General  Morgan,  the  Chairman  of  the 
Committee  charged  with  the  duty  of  tendering  the 
nominations,  turned  to  Mr.  Seymour  and  said : 

u  Governor  Seymour — On  behalf  of  the  committee 
appointed  for  that  purpose,  I  have  the  pleasure,  Sir, 
of  presenting  to  you  a  communication  announcing  your 
unanimous  nomination  as  the  candidate  for  the  office 
of  the  President  of  the  United  States,  by  the  National 
Democratic  Convention ;  and  on  behalf,  Sir,  of  the 
Conservative  and  Democratic  people  of  the  States 
whom  we  have  the  honor  to  represent,  we  here  pledge 
their  united  arid  cordial  efforts  in  securing  relief  to  the 
country  from  the  thraldom  which  now  possesses  it,  and 
in  placing  you,  Sir,  as  the  Chief  Magistrate  of  the 
United  States,  in  the  Executive  chair." 

Tremendous  cheering  followed  this  address.  When 
this  had  subsided,  Governour  Seymour  replied  as 
follows : 

"  MR.  CHAIRMAN  AND  GENTLEMEN  OF  THE  COMMITTEE  : 
I  thank  you  for  the  courteous  terms  in  which  you  have 
communicated  to  me  the  action  of  the  Democratic 
National  Convention.  (Cheers.)  I  have  no  words 
adequate  to  express  my  gratitude  for  the  good  will  and 
kindness  which  that  body  has  shown  to  me.  Its  nom 
ination  was  unsought,  and  unexpected.  It  was  my 
ambition  to  take  an  active  part,  from  which  I  am  now 


272  LIFE    OF   HORATIO    SEYMOUE. 

• 

excluded,  in  the  great  struggle  going  on  for  the 
restoration  of  good  government,  of  peace  and  prosper 
ity  to  our  country.  (Great  cheering.)  But  I  have 
been  caught  up  by  the  whelming  tide  that  is  bearing 
us  on  to  a  great  political  change,  and  I  find  myself 
unable  to  resist  its  pressure.  (Loud  cheers.)  You 
have  also  given  to  me  a  copy  of  the  resolutions  put 
forth  by  the  Convention,  showing  its  position  upon  all 
the  great  questions  which  now  agitate  the  country. 
As  the  presiding  officer  of  that  Convention,  I  am 
familiar  with  their  scope  and  import,  and  as  one  of  its 
members  I  am  a  party  to  their  terms;  they  are  in 
accord  with  my  views,  and  I  stand  upon  them  in  the 
contest  upon  which  we  are  now  entering ;  and  I  shall 
strive  to  carry  them  out  in  future  wherever  I  may  be 
placed,  in  public  or  private  life.  (Cheers.)  I  con 
gratulate  you,  and  all  conservative  men,  who  seek  to 
restore  order,  peace,  prosperity,  and  good  government 
to  our  land,  upon  the  evidences  everywhere  shown,  that 
we  are  to  triumph  at  the  next  election.  (Prolonged 
cheering.)  Those  who  are  politically  opposed  to  us 
flattered  themselves  there  would  be  discord  in  our 
councils ;  they  mistook  the  uncertainties  of  our  views 
as  to  the  best  methods  of  carrying  out  our  purposes 
for  difference  of  opinion  with  regard  to  those  purposes. 
They  mistook  an  intense  anxiety  to  do  no  act  which 
should  not  be  wise  and  judicious  for  a  spirit  of  discord, 
but  during  the  lengthened  proceedings  and  earnest  dis 
cussions  of  the  Convention  there  has  prevailed  an  entire 
harmony  of  intercourse,  a  patient  forbearance,  and  a 
self-sacrificing  spirit,  which  are  the  sure  tokens  of  a 


MR.  SEYMOUR   ACCEPTS    THE    NOMINATION.  273 

coming  victory.  Accept  for  yourselves,  gentlemen,  my 
wishes  for  your  future  welfare  and  happiness.  (Cheers. ) 
In  a  few  days  I  will  answer  the  communication  you 
have  just  handed  me  by  letter,  as  is  the  customary 
form."  (Tremendous  and  long-continued  cheering.) 

The  nomination  of  Vice  President  was  then  form 
ally  tendered  to  General  Blair,  who  accepted  it  in  an 
eloquent  address. 

During  all  this  while  the  crowd  in  the  street  had 
been  calling  impatiently  for  Mr.  Seymour,  and  at  the 
close  of  the  ceremonies  in  the  hall  he  appeared  on  the 
balcony,  and  addressed  them  as  follows : 

u  Fellow-citizens :  I  am  unable  with  my  broken 
voice  and  exhausted  frame  to  do  more  than  return  you 
my  sincere  thanks  for  the  compliment  which  you  now 
pay  me.  May  God  bless  you,  and  may  he  bless  our 
country,  and  may  he  give  us  in  the  pending  contest 
that  triumph  which  will  tend  to  secure  constitutional 
law,  good  order,  peace,  and  prosperity  to  our  land.  I 
can  say  no  more,  but  to  bid  you  good  night,  and  once 
more  to  thank  you  for  your  kindness  to  me." 

The  nomination  of  Mr.  Seymour  was  everywhere 
hailed  with  delight  by  the  party.  The  following  com 
ments  of  the  Democratic  press  will  show  this.  The 
Cincinnati  Inquirer,  Mr.  Pendleton's  organ,  in  its  issue 
of  July  10th,  said: 

"  As  we  stated  yesterday,  the  Democratic  ticket  is 
one  of  which  not  only  the  party  but  the  country  may 
well  be  proud.  It  has  been  long  since  there  was  so 
strong  a  combination  of  intellectual  vigor,  force  of 
character,  and  statesmanlike  experience  presented  to 
18 


274  LIFE    OF   HOEATIO    SEYMOUR. 

the  suffrages  of  the  American  people.  The  name  of 
Horatio  Seymour  is  a  tower  of  strength,  and  challenges 
not  only  the  warm  admiration  of  his  political  friends, 
but  the  respect,  if  not  esteem,  of  his  opponents.  If 
there  is  a  man  who  is  eminently  qualified  for  the  Presi 
dential  office,  who  would  fill  it  with  dignity,  with  con 
summate  tact,  who  would  honor  the  place,  it  is  Horatio 
Seymour.  There  is  no  qualification  in  which  he  is 
deficient.  He  is  a  ripe  scholar,  a  polished  writer,  a 
splendid  orator,  a  profound  thinker,  who  has  made  the 
science  of  government  his  lifelong  study ;  and  in  addi 
tion,  he  has  every  personal  grace  and  accomplishment 
that  are  properly  associated  with  so  exalted  an  office. 
He  has  a  national  fame  and  reputation  as  extensive  as 
that  of  any  man  in  the  Union.  More  than  all,  he  is 
devotedly  attached  to  the  Constitution  as  it  was  made 
by  the  fathers,  and  would  administer  it  strictly  upon 
the  principles  of  Jefferson  and  Madison.  Not  the  least 
flaw  or  defect  can  be  found  with  his  general  political 
record.  No  man  has  fought  more  gallantly  the  battles 
of  the  Democracy  and  the  Union.  He  has  wielded 
an  intellectual  weapon  in  their  behalf  as  keen  as  a 
Damascus  blade. 

"  The  selection  of  Mr.  Seymour  is  peculiarly  fortu 
nate  at  this  time,  for  the  practice  has  latterly  been  to 
select  mediocrity  and  inexperience  for  Presidential 
honors,  rather  than  consummate  talent  and  ripe  ex 
perience.  The  election  of  Mr.  Seymour  would  redeem 
us  from  the  reproach  that  has  been  cast  upon  us,  that 
it  is  impossible  to  place  a  first-class  statesman  in  the 
Presidential  office.  The  delegates  from  Ohio  and  the 


COMMENTS    OF   THE    PRESS.  275 

West  faithfully  discharged  their  duty  when,  Mr.  Pendle- 
ton  being  no  longer  in  the  field,  they  gave  their  votes 
to  the  distinguished  statesman  of  the  Empire  State. 
It  is  true  there  has  been  a  divergence  of  views  to  some 
extent  in  the  sentiments  of  Mr.  Seymour  and  Mr. 
Pendleton,  upon  the  greenback  question,  but  the  adop 
tion  of  a  platform  which  is  a  substantial  affirmation  of 
Mr.  Pendleton's  creed,  and  the  acceptance  by  Mr. 
Seymour  of  a  nomination  upon  it,  will  remove  all 
difficulty,  and  be  generally  acceptable  to  the  entire 
Democracy  of  the  country.  Mr.  Seymour  being  a  man 
of  high  personal  honor,  may  be  safely  trusted  to  carry 
out  and  give  administrative  enforcement  to  all  the 
doctrines  of  the  platform,  upon  which  he  is  running, 
and  in  behalf  of  which  the  suffrages  of  the  people  are 
solicited.  On  the  negro  suffrage  issue,  and  on  all  the  \ 
points  involved  in  the  so-called  Congressional  recon-  \ 
struct  ion,  Mr.  Seymour  occupies  the  most  advanced 
Democratic  ground,  as  is  well  known  to  every  one  who 
has  read  his  many  magnificent  addresses  denunciatory 
of  the  whole  Radical  Congressional  scheme.  Mr. 
Seymours  sentiments  on  this  question  render  him  par 
ticularly  acceptable  to  the  Democracy  of  the  Great 
West, 

"  General  Frank  P.  Blair,  the  nominee  for  Vice- 
President,  is  another  selection  which  possesses  eminent 
fitness  at  this  time.  General  Blair  comes  of  good 
Democratic  stock,  and  his  name  is  redolent  with  a 
Jacksonian  and  Bentonian  flavor  that  is  exceedingly 
pleasant  to  the  Old-line  Democracy.  His  father  was 
the  confidential  friend  of  President  Jackson,  and  con- 


276  LIFE   OF  HORATIO   SEYMOUR. 

ducted  the  Washington  Globe,  the  official  organ,  during 
the  twelve  years'  administration  of  Jackson  and  Van 
Buren.  His  son  Frank  has  inherited  the  force  of 
character  and  the  intellectual  vigor  of  Ms  father,  which 
was  always  remarkable,  and  which  has  been  evinced 
during  his  long  and  eventful  life.  General  Blair  is 
the  soul  of  honor,  as  fine  a  representative  of  true  and 
genuine  manhood  as  the  country  affords.  There  was 
no  better,  no  more  gallant  soldier  in  the  late  war  than 
General  Blair,  none  who  received  higher  encomiums 
for  distinguished  and  meritorious  services.  He  was 
for  a  long  period  the  commanding  officer  of  the  fighting 
Seventeenth  Corps  in  Sherman's  army,  which  per 
formed  prodigies  of  valor  on  all  the  battle-fields  from 
the  Ohio  to  the  sea.  The  Radical  press,  who  now 
affect  to  disparage  this  gallant  officer,  were  then  warm 
and  enthusiastic  in  his  praise.  Their  abuse  of  to-day 
is  answered  by  their  compliments  to  him  then.  It  is 
true  that  General  Blair  for  a  time  acted  with  the  Re 
publican  party,  but,  like  thousands  of  others,  he  became 
disgusted  with  its  excesses,  and  returned  again  to  the 
fijd  Democratic  household.  But  even  when  acting 
/'  with  the  Republicans,  he  never  gave  any  countenance 
or  favor  to  the  atrocious  doctrine  of  negro  equality,  but 
always  favored  the  supremacy  of  the  white  race,  and 
insisted  that  to  it  alone  should  be  intrusted  the  des 
tinies  of  the  country.  But  Mr.  Blair's  merits  as  a  citi 
zen  soldier  are  not  his  only  claims  to  public  favor. 
He,  too,  possesses  civic  experience,  and  long  and  inti 
mate  acquaintance  with  American  politics.  He  has 
been  in  Congress,  and  would  make  an  accomplished 
officer  in  the  Senate. 


COMMENTS    OF   THE    PRESS.  277 

"  Almost  every  element  of  strength  is  combined  in 
this  ticket  of  Seymour  and  Blair.  One  comes  from 
the  extreme  East,  the  other  from  the  extreme  West. 
It  unites,  as  we  have  shown,  both  civil  and  military 
talent  and  experience.  If  the  Old-line  Democrats  hail 
with  rapture  the  nomination  of  Horatio  Seymour,  the 
dissatisfied  Republicans,  together  with  the  soldiers  and 
sailors,  recognize  in  General  Blair's  selection  a  compli 
ment  to  them,  and  a  testimonial  of  the  liberality  of  the 
Democratic  organization.  This  ticket  was  nominated 
to  be  elected  ;  and  elected  it  will  be,  by  one  of  the  most 
triumphant  majorities  known  in  the  history  of  mpdern 
Presidential  campaigns.  Every  thing  indicates  this. 
We  regard  it  as  certain  as  any  event  in  the  future  can 
possibly  be.  The  hour  has  arrived  for  political  deliver 
ance  from  the  most  intolerable  oppression  and  misgov- 
ernment  which  has  so  long  afflicted  the  country.  The 
people  are  ripe  for  a  change,  and  a  change  in  Novem 
ber  we  shall  have.  Messrs.  Seymour  and  Blair  are 
the  next  President  and  Vice- President  of  the  United 
States." 

The  Portland  (Maine)  Argus  said : 

"  Horatio  Seymour  is  the  foremost  living  statesman 
of  our  country.  In  private  life  he  is  the  pure,  upright 
citizen ;  in  public  life  he  has  ever  been  distinguished 
for  enlarged  and  liberal  views,  arid  for  devoted  patriot 
ism.  No  man  in  the  country  is  better  qualified  for  the 
wise  discharge  of  the  responsible  duties  of  President ; 
and  if  elected,  his  whole  mighty  energies  will  be  ex 
pended  in  endeavors  to  bring  to  our  country  peace, 
union  and  prosperity." 


278  LIFE    OF   HORATIO   SEYMOUR. 

The  Hartford  (Connecticut)  Times  said : 
u  Governor  Sey mourns  reputation  is  wider  than  the 
Union,  and  his  ability  and  integrity  are  believed  to  be 
fully  equal  to  the  high  duties  which  he  will  be  called 
upon  to  discharge.  We  need  not  say  that  the  nomi 
nation  has  fallen  upon  a  true  and  reliable  representa 
tive  of  the  Democratic  party.  Without  derogation  of 
the  patriotism  or  the  power  of  the  eminent  man  who 
wears  the  robes  of  the  Chief  Justice,  we  may  say  that 
at  this  juncture  it  xequired  a  Democrat  to  unite  the 
great  party  of  the  people,  and  to  wrin.  This  does  win. 
Governor  Seymour  will  be  elected.  The  platform  is  as 
sound  and  strong  as  the  nomination.  Both  will  sweep 
the  West  like  a  ~s\  hirlwind,  and  indeed  carry  nearly  all 
the  Northern  States,  as  well  as  some  of  the  Southern." 
The  Rochester  (N.  Y.)  Union  said  : 

"  It  would  be  sheer  affectation  in  us  to  sav  that  we 

j 

are  overjoyed  at  the  nomination  of  New  York's  favor 
ite  son,  the  first  statesman  of  the  day,  for  the  first  office 
in  earthly  government,  by  the  Democratic  National 
Convention.  The  circumstance  and  the  manner  of  this 
nomination  render  it  doubly  gratifying  —  especially 
gratifying  in  this,  that  it  wipes  away  every  semblance 
of  antagonism  in  the  Democratic  and  Conservative 
ranks,  and  unites  them  in  solid  column. 
The  East  and  the  West,  the  North  and  the  South, 
meet  upon  the  common  platform  of  principles  laid 
down  with  such  striking  force  and  unanimity,  and  fol 
lowing  the  lead  of  Horatio  Seymour  we  will  march  to 
triumph  at  the  ballot-box.  Yielding  to  General  Grant 
all  that  is  claimed  for  him,  the  people  know  and  feel 


COMMENTS    OF   THE    PRESS.  279 

that  for  the  high  civil  station  of  Chief  Magistrate  of 
this  country,  he  is  as  the  mole-hill  to  the  mountain  com 
pared  to  Governor  Seymour/  Their  interests,  their 
honor,  their  every  thing  demands  a  statesman  in  the 
Presidential  chair — a  man  who  will  command  the  re 
spect  of  the  world  at  home  and  the  world  abroad ;  and 
who  will  administer  the  Executive  office  with  an  intel 
ligence,  with  a  dignity,  and  with  a  success  that  will 
restore  the  once  proud  prestige  of  the  United  States. 
Such  a  man  is  Horatio  Seymour,  the  scholar,  the 
statesman,  the  Christian  gentleman,  whose  private 
character  is  spotless,  and  whose  public  record  has  with 
stood  the  assaults  of  every  foe  and  still  defies  them. 
Is  General  Grant  such  a  man  ?  We  put  this  question 
home  to  our  Republican  fellow-citizens,  whose  interests 
and  honor  in  the  Government  are  identical  with  those 
of  their  Democratic  fellow-citizens.  As  a  soldier  Gen 
eral  Grant  has  been  successful,  and  he  has  been  re 
warded — he  holds  the  highest  military  command  in  the 
world,  settled  upon  him  for  life,  with  an  income  at 
tached  that  renders  himself  and  his  family  independent 
As  a  civilian  he  has  been  a  failure  in  every  avocation 
that  he  has  tried ;  and  repeatedly  he  has  confessed,  and 
by  his  acts  has  given  evidence,  that  he  is  not  fitted  by 
either  education  or  taste  for  a  political  station.  We 
cannot  doubt  the  verdict  of  the  people — that  they  will 
call  Horatio  Seymour  to  the  Presidency,  and  leave 
General  Grant  to  wear  the  laurels  and  enjoy  the  emol 
uments  of  the  only  office  for  which  he  is  fitted.  No 
happier  choice  for  the  second  place  upon  the  ticket 
could  have  been  made  than  that  of  Major- General 


280  LIFE    OF    HORATIO    SEYMOUR. 

Francis  P.  Blair,  of  Missouri,  the  great  soldier  of  the 
West,  and  a  statesman  of  national  reputation.  He 
represents  the  volunteer  army,  which  enlisted  to  put 
down  the  rebellion  that  peace  and  Union  might  be  re 
stored,  combining  the  private  in  the  ranks  and  the 
general  in  command ;  as  he  also  represents  the  old 
anti-Slavery  element  which  warred  against  the  '  pecu 
liar  institution'  of  the  South,  and  which,  now  that 
that  institution  has  gone  to  its  grave  with  the  rubbish 
of  the  past,  demands  that  we  shall  have  a  Union  of 
States  in  fact  as  well  as  in  name,  according  to  our 
constitutional  system  and  upon  the  basis  of  universal 
freedom." 

The  fair-minded  Republicans  were  equally  frank  in 
their  tributes.  The  New  York  Sun,  an  able  and  inde 
pendent  journal,  said  of  the  nomination  : 

uWe  but  repeat  what  we  have  repeatedly  said, 
when  we  assert  that  Governor  Seymour  is  the  most 
distinguished  member  of  the  Democratic  party.  Though 
he  was  clearly  entitled  to  its  nomination,  the  extraor 
dinary  unanimity  with  which  it  was  conferred  upon 
him  arnid  the  most  intense  excitement  and  unbounded 
enthusiasm,  must  be  extremely  gratifying  to  his  feel 
ings.  He  is  the  fair  representative  of  the  average  sen 
timents  of  the  Democracy  upon  all  the  leading  issues 
of  the  canvass.  He  is  the  most  popular  candidate  that 
could  have  been  selected  to  command  the  vote  of  the 
party  on  this  side  of  the  Alleghanies.  On  all  the 
questions  that  agitate  this '  section  of  the  Union,  his 
views,  so  often  and  so  recently  expressed,  are  fully  un 
derstood.  General  Blair  is  a  man  of  fair  talents  and 


GOV.  SEYMOUR  RETURNS  HOME.          281 

great  force  of  character.  He  did  good  service  in  the 
field  during  the  war,  and  has  had  some  experience  in 
civil  life.  Though  coming  of  a  pure  Democratic  stock, 
he  acted  with  the  Republicans  from  the  organization 
of  that  party  down  to  about  the  period  of  the  death  of 
Mr.  Lincoln,  when  his  political  course  became  some 
what  wayward  and  fitful.  In  his  recent  letter  he  takes 
far  higher  ground  than  that  laid  down  in  the  Dem 
ocratic  platform  in  favor  of  overturning  the  recon 
struction  policy  of  Congress  and  remanding  the  South 
ern  States  to  their  condition  at  the  close  of  the  war. 
General  Blair  is  a  gentleman  of  strict  temperance  prin 
ciples,  and  popular  among  his  personal  friends." 

Governor  Seymour  left  New  York  for  his  home  in 
Utica  on  the  llth  of  July,  taking  the  night  boat  to 
Albany,  where  he  remained  during  Sunday,  the  12th. 
On  Monday  he  resumed  his  journey  home,  passing  over 
the  New  York  Central  Railway.  He  had  suffered  on 
Sunday  from  a  severe  attack  of  diphtheria,  and  was 
anxious  that  no  demonstration  should  be  made  along 
the  route  to  his  home.  The  news  of  his  journey,  how 
ever,  had  preceded  him,  and  at  every  town  he  was  met 
and  welcomed  by  enthusiastic  crowds.  The  demon 
strations  were  very  hearty,  and  touched  the  Governor 
deeply.  He  was  too  unwell  to  speak,  however,  and 
his  thanks  were  returned  through  other  persons. 

Upon  reaching  Utica,  he  was  received  with  a  per 
fect  ovation.  The  depot,  the  hotels,  the  stores,  and 
many  of  the  private  residences,  were  handsomely  dec 
orated  with  flags.  The  Governor  was  formally  re 
ceived  by  the  Mayor  of  the  town  and  a  Committee  of 


282  LIFE    OF   HORATIO   SEYMOUE. 

citizens,  and  escorted  to  a  platform  tastefully  festooned 
with  flags,  passing  through  a  double  row  of  young  girls 
from  the  "  Christian  Brothers'  School  "  and  the  Sisters 
of  Charity  Orphan  Asylum.  These  little  ones  had 
frequently  enjoyed  the  hospitalities  of  Mr.  Seymour  in 
their  pic-nics  on  his  grounds,  and  were  enthusiastic  in 
their  reception  of  him.  The  church  and  factory  bells 
were  rung,  and  a  salute  fired  from  a  battery  of  artil 
lery.  Upon  reaching  the  platform,  Mr.  Seymour  was 
greeted  with  hearty  cheers.  He  was  then  addressed, 
on  behalf  of  his  fellow- citizens,  by  Hon.  Hiram  Denio, 
late  Chief  Justice  of  the  State  of  New  York.  Mr. 
Denio  said : 

"  GOVERNOR  SEYMOUR  : — A  number  of  your  towns 
men  and  fellow-citizens  casually  assembled  here  tender 
you  a  hearty  welcome  to  your  home.  Our  meeting 
to-day  is  especially  interesting  on  account  of  the  events 
of  the  last  week.  They  have  placed  you  in  a  peculiar 
position  before  the  country.  (Cheers.)  As  a  candi 
date  for  the  highest  position  in  the  nation,  your  name 
is  made  a  rallying  point  of  that  large  portion  of  our 
people  who,  with  me,  attribute  the  difficulties  and 
dangers  of  our  political  and  financial  situation — which 
cannot  well  be  exaggerated — to  the  unwise  proceedings, 
amounting  to  infatuation,  of  the  existing  legislative 
branch  of  our  national  Government.  We  are  gratified 
that  the  choice  of  the  Convention  has  fallen  upon  you, 
and  we  anticipate  with  confidence  that  their  nomination 
will  be  ratified  by  the  people.  (Great  cheering.)" 

Amid  tremendous  cheering  Governor  Seymour  re 
sponded  as  follows : 


RECEPTION    AT    UTICA.  283 

"  I  have  been  very  grateful  for  the  marks  of  good 
will  which  I  have  received  from  the  representatives  of 
the  Democratic  party  of  all  the  States  in  this  Union, 
but  this  exhibition  of  kindness  and  partiality  from  my 
own  townsmen  impresses  itself  upon  my  heart  most 
deeply  of  all.  (Cheers.)  During  the  whole  course 
of  my  life  I  have  received  from  them,  without  distinc 
tion  of  party,  proofs  of  good  will  that  I  shall  ever 
cherish  with  gratitude  during  the  remainder  of  my 
existence.  (Cheers.)  I  am  now  suffering  from  a  vio 
lent  inflammation  in  my  throat  which,  my  physician 
advises  me,  makes  it  dangerous  to  speak  in  the  open 
air,  but  at  the  risk  of  my  life  I  must  thank  you  for 
this  striking  and  gratifying  proof  of  your  good  will 
and  partiality  towards  me.  (Loud  cheering.)" 

After  this  reception,  Mr.  Seymour  retired  to  his 
residence  near  the  town,  where  he  received  the  con 
gratulations  of  his  neighbors. 

On  the  4th  of  August,  Mr.  Seymour  sent  to  the 
Committee  appointed  by  the  Convention,  the  following 
letter  of  acceptance : 

"  UTICA,  August  4. 

"  GENTLEMEN  :  When  in  the  City  of  New  York  on 
the  llth  of  July,  in  the  presence  of  a  vast  multitude, 
on  behalf  of  the  National  Democratic  Convention, 
you  tendered  to  me  its  unanimous  nomination  as  its 
candidate  for  the  office  of  President  of  the  United 
States,  I  stated  I  had  no  words  4  adequate  to  express 
my  gratitude  for  the  good  will  and  kindness  which 
that  body  had  shown  to  me.  Its  nomination  was  un 
sought  and  unexpected.  It  was  my  ambition  to  take 


284  LIFE    OF    HORATIO    SEYMOUR. 

an  active  part,  from  which  I  am  now  excluded,  in  the 
great  struggle  now  going  on  for  the  restoration  of  good 
government,  of  peace  and  prosperity  to  our  country. 
But  I  have  been  caught  up  by  the  whelming  tide  which 
is  bearing  us  on  to  a  great  political  change,  and  I  find 
myself  unable  to  resist  its  pressure.  You  have  also 
given  me  a  copy  of  the  resolutions  put  forth  by  the 
Convention,  showing  its  position  upon  all  the  great 
questions  which  now  agitate  the  country.  As  the  pre 
siding  officer  of  that  Convention,  I  am  familiar  with 
their  scope  and  import ;  as  one  of  its  members,  I  am 
a  party  to  their  terms.  They  are  in  accord  with  my 
views,  and  I  stand  upon  them  in  the  contest  upon 
which  we  are  now  entering,  and  shall  strive  to  carry 
them  out  in  future,  wherever  I  may  be  placed,  in  po 
litical  or  private  life.' 

"  I  then  stated  that  I  would  send  you  these  words 
of  acceptance  in  a  letter,  as  is  the  customary  form.  I 
see  no  reason,  upon  reflection,  to  change  or  qualify  the 
terms  of  my  approval  of  the  resolutions  of  the  Con 
vention. 

"I  have  delayed  the  mere  formal  act  of  communica 
ting  to  you  in  writing  what  I  thus  publicly  said,  for 
the  purpose  of  seeing  what  light  the  action  of  Con 
gress  would  throw  upon  the  interests  of  the  country. 
Its  acts  since  the  adjournment  of  the  Convention  show 
an  alarm  lest  a  change  of  political  power  will  give  to 
the  people  what  they  ought  to  have — a  clear  statement 
of  what  has  been  done  with  the  money  drawn  from 
them  during  the  past  eight  years.  Thoughtful  men 
feel  that  there  have  been  wrongs  in  the  financial  man- 


LETTER    OF   ACCEPTANCE.  285 

agement  which  have  been  kept  from  the  public  knowl 
edge.  The  Congressional  party  has  not  only  allied 
itself  with  military  power,  which  is  to  be  brought  to 
bear  directly  upon  the  elections  in  many  States,  but 
it  also  holds  itself  in  perpetual  session,  with  the  avowed 
purpose  of  making  such  laws  as  it  shall  see  fit,  in  view 
of  the  elections  which  will  take  place  within  a  few 
weeks.  It  did  not,  therefore,  adjourn,  but  took  a  re 
cess,  to  meet  again  if  its  partisan  interests  shall  demand 
its  reassembling.  Never  before  in  the  history  of  our 
country  has  Congress  thus  taken  a  menacing  attitude 
towards  its  electors.  Under  its  influence  some  of  the 
States  organized  by  its  agents  are  proposing  to  deprive 
the  people  of  the  right  to  vote  for  Presidential  elec 
tors,  and  the  first  bold  steps  are  taken  to  destroy  the 
rights  of  suffrage.  It  is  not  strange,  therefore,  that 
thoughtful  men  see  in  such  action  the  proof  that  there 
is  with  those  who  shape  the  policy  of  the  Republican 
party,  motives  stronger  and  deeper  than  the  mere  wish 
to  hold  political  power ;  that  there  is  a  dread  of  some 
exposure  which  drives  them  on  to  acts  so  desperate 
and  impolitic. 

"Many  of  the  ablest  leaders  and  journals  of  the 
Republican  party  have  openly  deplored  the  violence 
of  Congressional  action  and  its  tendency  to  keep  up 
discord  in  our  country.  The  great  interests  of  our 
Union  demand  peace,  order,  and  a  return  to  those  in 
dustrial  pursuits  without  which  we  cannot  maintain 
the  faith  or  honor  of  our  Government.  The  minds  of 
business  men  are  perplexed  by  uncertainties.  The 
hours  of  toil  of  our  laborers  are  lengthened  by  the 


286  LIFE    OF    HORATIO    SEYMOUR. 

costs  of  living  made  by  the  direct  and  indirect  exac 
tions  of  Government.  Our  people  are  harassed  by 
the  heavy  and  frequent  demands  of  the  tax-gatherer. 
Without  distinction  of  party  there  is  a  strong  feeling 
in  favor  of  that  line  of  action  which  shall  restore  order 
and  confidence,  and  shall  lift  off  the  burdens  which 
now  hinder  and  vex  the  industry  of  the  country.  Yet 
at  this  moment  those  in  power  have  thrown  into  the 
Senate  Chamber  and  Congressional  Hall  new  elements 
of  discord  and  violence.  Men  have  been  admitted  as 
Representatives  of  some  of  the  Southern  States,  with 
the  declaration  upon  their  lips  that  they  cannot  live  in 
the  States  they  claim  to  represent  without  military 
protection.  These  men  are  to  make  laws  for  the 
North  as  well  as  the  South.  These  men,  who  a  few 
days  since  were  seeking  as  suppliants  that  Congress 
would  give  them  power  within  their  respective  States, 
are  to-day  the  masters  and  controllers  of  the  actions 
of  those  bodies.  Entering  them  with  minds  filled  with 
passions,  their  first  demands  have  been  that  Congress 
shall  look  upon  the  States  from  which  they  come  as  in 
conditions  of  civil  war ;  that  the  majority  of  their  pop 
ulations,  embracing  their  intelligence,  shall  be  treated 
as  public  enemies ;  that  military  forces  shall  be  kept 
up  at  the  cost  of  the  people  of  the  North,  and  that 
there  shall  be  no  peace  and  order  at  the  South  save 
that  which  is  made  by  arbitrary  power.  Every  intel 
ligent  man  knows  that  these  men  owe  their  seats  in 
Congress  to  the  disorder  in  the  South ;  every  man 
knows  that  they  not  only  owe  their  present  positions 
to  disorder,  but  that  every  motive  springing  from  the 


LETTER    OF    ACCEPTANCE.  287 

love  of  power,  of  gain,  of  a  desire  for  vengeance, 
prompts  them  to  keep  the  South  in  anarchy.  While 
that  exists,  they  are  independent  of  the  wills  or  wishes 
of  their  follow-citizens.  While  confusion  reigns,  they 
are  the  dispensers  of  the  profits  and  the  honors  which 
grow  out  of  the  government  of  mere  force.  These 
men  are  now  placed  in  positions  where  they  cannot 
urge  their  views  of  policy,  but  where  they  can  enforce 
them.  When  others  shall  be  admitted  in  this  manner 
from  the  remaining  Southern  States,  although  they 
will  have  in  truth  no  constituents,  they  will  have  more 
power  in  the  Senate  than  a  majority  of  the  people  of 
this  Union  living  in  nine  of  the  great  States.  In  vain 
the  wisest  members  of  the  Republican  party  protested 
against  the  policy  that  led  to  this  result.  While  the 
chiefs  of  the  late  rebellion  have  submitted  to  the  re 
sults  of  the  war,  and  are  now  quietly  engaged  in  useful 
pursuits  for  the  support  of  themselves  and  their  fam 
ilies,  and  are  trying  by  the  force  of  their  example  to 
lead  back  the  people  of  the  South  to  the  order  and  in 
dustry,  not  only  essential  to  their  well-being,  but  to 
the  greatness  and  prosperity  of  our  common  country, 
we  see  that  those  who,  without  ability  or  influence, 
have  been  thrown  by  the  agitations  of  civil  convulsion 
into  positions  of  honor  and  profit,  are  striving  to  keep 
alive  the  passions  to  which  they  owe  their  elevation. 
And  they  clamorously  insist  that  they  are  the  only 
friends  of  our  Union — a  Union  that  can  only  have  a 
sure  foundation  in  fraternal  regard  and  a  common 
desire  to  promote  the  peace,  the  order  and  the  happi 
ness  of  all  sections  of  our  land. 


288  LIFE    OF   HORATIO    SEYMOUR. 

"  Events  in  Congress  since  the  adjournment  of  the 
Convention  have  vastly  increased  the  importance  of  a 
political  victory,  by  those  who  are  seeking  to  bring 
back  economy,  simplicity,  and  justice  in  the  adminis 
tration  of  our  national  affairs.  Many  Republicans 
have  heretofore  clung  to  their  party  who  have  regret 
ted  the  extremes  of  violence  to  which  it  has  run.  They 
have  cherished  a  faith  that  while  the  action  of  their 
political  friends  has  been  mistaken,  their  motives  have 
been  good.  They  must  now  see  that  the  Republican 
party  is  in  that  condition  that  it  cannot  carry  out  a 
wise  and  peaceful  policy,  whatever  its  motives  may  be. 
It  is  a  misfortune,  not  only  to  a  country  but  to  a  gov 
erning  party  itself,  when  its  action  is  unchecked  by  any 
form  of  opposition.  It  has  been  the  misfortune  of  the 
Republican  party  that  the  events  of  the  past  few  years 
have  given  it  so  much  power  that  it  has  been  able  to 
shackle  the  Executive,  to  trammel  the  Judiciary,  and 
to  carry  out  the  views  of  the  most  unwise  and  violent 
of  its  members.  When  this  state  of  things  exists  in 
any  party,  it  has  ever  been  found  that  the  sober  judg 
ments  of  its  ablest  leaders  do  not  control.  There  is 
hardly  an  able  man  who  helped  to  build  up  the  Repub 
lican  organization  who  has  not,  within  the  past  three 
years,  warned  it  against  its  excesses,  who  has  not  been 
borne  down  and  forced  to  give  up  his  convictions  of 
what  the  interests  of  the  country  called  for :  or,  if  too 
patriotic  to  do  this,  who  has  not  been  driven  from  its 
ranks.  If  this  has  been  the  case  heretofore,  what  will 
be  its  action  now  with  this  new  infusion  of  men  who, 
without  a  decent  respect  for  the  views  of  those  who 


LETTER   OF    ACCEPTANCE.  289 

had  just  given  them  their  positions,  begin  their  legisla 
tive  career  with  calls  for  arms,  with  demands  that  their 
States  shall  be  regarded  as  in  a  condition  of  civil  war, 
and  with  a  declaration  that  they  are  ready  and  anxious 
to  degrade  the  President  of  the  United  States  when 
ever  they  can  persuade  or  force  Congress  to  bring  for 
ward  new  articles  of  impeachment. 

"  The  Republican  party,  as  well  as  we,  are  interested 
in  putting  some  check  upon  this  violence.  It  must  be 
clear  to  every  thinking  man  that  a  division  of  political 
power  tends  to  check  the  violence  of  party  action  and  to 
assure  the  peace  and  good  order  of  society.  The  election 
of  a  Democratic  Executive,  and  a  majority  of  Democrat 
ic  members  to  the  House  of  Representatives  would  not 
give  to  that  party  organization  the  power  to  make  sud 
den  or  violent  changes,  but  it  would  serve  to  check  those 
extreme  measures  which  have  been  deplored  by  the 
best  men  of  both  political  organizations.  The  result 
would  most  certainly  lead  to  that  peaceful  restoration 
of  the  Union  and  re-establishment  of  fraternal  rela 
tionship  which  the  country  desires.  I  am  sure  that  the 
best  men  of  the  Republican  party  deplore  as  deeply  as 
I  do  the  spirit  of  violence  shown  by  those  recently  ad 
mitted  to  seats  in  Congress  from  the  South.  The  con 
dition  of  civil  war  which  they  comtemplate  must  be 
abhorrent  to  every  right  thinking  man. 

u  I  have  no  mere  personal  wishes  which  mislead  my 
judgment  in  regard  to  the  pending  election.  No  man 
who  has  weighed  and  measured  the  duties  of  the  office 
of  President  of  the  United  States,  can  fail  to  be  im 
pressed  with  the  cares  and  toils  of  him  who  is  to  meet 
19 


290  LIFE    OF    HORATIO    SEYMOUE. 

its  demands.  It  is  not  merely  to  float  with  popular 
currents,  without  a  policy  or  a  purpose.  On  the  con 
trary,  while  our  Constitution  gives  just  weight  to  the 
public  will,  its  distinguishing  feature  is  that  it  seeks  to 
protect  the  rights  of  minorities.  Its  greatest  glory  is 
that  it  puts  restraints  upon  power.  It  gives  force  and 
form  to  those  maxims  and  principles  of  civil  liberty 
for  which  the  martyrs  of  freedom  have  struggled 
through  ages.  It  declares  the  right  of  the  people — 
4  to  be  secure  in  their  persons,  houses,  and  papers 
against  unreasonable  searches  and  seizures.  That 
Congress  shall  make  no  law  respecting  an  establish 
ment  of  religion  or  the  free  exercise  thereof,  or  abridg 
ing  the  freedom  of  speech  or  of  the  press,  or  the  right 
of  the  people  to  petition  for  redress  of  grievances.  It 
secures  the  right  of  a  speedy  and  public  trial  by  an  im 
partial  jury.' 

"  No  man  can  rightfully  enter  upon  the  duties  of  the 
Presidential  office,  unless  he  is  not  only  willing  to  carry 
out  the  wishes  of  the  people  expressed  in  a  constitution 
al  way,  but  is  also  prepared  to  stand  up  for  the  rights 
of  minorities.  He  must  be  ready  to  uphold  the  free 
exercise  of  religion.  He  must  denounce  measures 

o 

which  would  wrong  personal  or  home  rights,  or  the 
religious  conscience  of  the  humblest  citizen  of  the  land. 
He  must  maintain,  without  distinction  of  creed  or 
nationality,  all  the  privileges  of  American  citizenship. 
"  The  experience  of  every  public  man  who  has  been 
faithful  to  his  trust  teaches  him  that  no  one  can  do  the 
duties  of  the  office  of  President,  unless  he  is  ready  not 
only  to  undergo  the  falsehoods  and  abuse  of  the  bad, 


LETTER    OF    ACCEPTANCE.  291 

but  to  suffer  from  the  censure  of  the  good  who  are 
misled  by  prejudices  and  misrepresentations.  There 
are  no  attractions  in  such  positions,  which  deceive  my 
judgment,  when  I  say  that  a  great  change  is  going  on 
in  the  public  mind.  The  mass  of  the  Republican  party 
are  more  thoughtful,  temperate  and  just  than  they 
were  during  the  excitements  which  attended  the  pro 
gress  and  close  of  the  civil  war.  As  the  energy  of  the 
Democratic  party  springs  from  their  devotion  to  their 
cause  and  not  to  their  candidates,  I  may  with  pro 
priety  speak  of  the  fact  that  never  in  the  political  his 
tory  of  our  country  has  the  action  of  any  like  body 
been  hailed  with  such  universal  and  widespread  enthu 
siasm  as  that  which  has  been  shown  in  relation  to  the 
position  of  the  National  Democratic  Convention. 
With  this  the  candidates  had  nothing  to  do.  Had 
any  others  of  those  named  been  selected,  this  spirit 
would  have  been,  perhaps,  more  marked.  The  zeal 
and  energy  of  the  conservative  masses  .  spring  from  a 
desire  to  make  a  change  of  political  policy,  and  from 
the  confidence  that  they  can  carry  out  their  purpose. 
"  In  this  faith  they  are  strengthened  by  the  co 
operation  of  the  great  body  of  those  who  served  in 
the  Union  army  and  navy  during  the  war.  Having 
given  nearly  sixteen  thousand  commissions  to  the 
officers  of  that  army,  I  know  their  views  and  wishes. 
They  demand  the  Union  for  which  they  fought.  The 
largest  meeting  of  these  gallant  soldiers'  which  ever 
assembled  was  held  in  New  York,  and  indorsed  the 
action  of  the  National  Convention.  In  words  in 
stinct  with  meaning,  they  called  upon  the  Govern- 


292  LIFE    OF    HOEATIO    SEYMOUR. 

ment  to  stop  in  its  policy  of  hate,  discord  and  dis 
union,  and  in  terms  of  fervid  eloquence  they  demand 
ed  the  restoration  of  the  rights  and  liberties  of  the 
American  people. 

u  When  there  is  such  accord  between  those  who 
proved  themselves  brave  and  self-sacrificing  in  war, 
and  those  who  are  thoughtful  and  patriotic  in  coun 
cil,  I  cannot  doubt  we  shall  gain  a  political  triumph 
which  will  restore  our  Union,  bring  back  peace  and 
prosperity  to  our  land,  and  will  give  us  once  more 
the  blessings  of  a  wise,  economical  and  honest  govern 
ment. 

"I  am,  gentlemen,  truly  yours,  &c., 

"  HORATIO  SEYMOUR. 

•'  To  General  G.   W.   Morgan,   and  others,  Commit 
tee,"  &c.,  &c. 


LIFE 

OF 

FRANCIS  PRESTON  BLAIR,  JR. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

Birth — Childhood — A  Favorite  with  General  Jackson — Attends  Prince 
ton  College — Studies  Law — Removes  to  St.  Louis — Failure  of  his 
Health — .Jakes  a  Journey  to  the  Rocky  Mountains — Volunieers  for 
the  Mexican  War — His  Services  during  that  Struggle — Political  Life 
— Supports  Mr.  Van  Buren — Acts  with  the  Republican  Party — His 
Opposition  to  Slavery — Elected  to  the  Legislature — Elected  to  the 
35th  Congress — His  Career  in  Congress — His  Plan  f>r  Relieving  the 
Country  of  the  negroes — A  Remarkable  Speech — The  Scheme  both 
Wise  and  Practicable— Speech  on  the  Volunteer  Bill — Opposes  the 
Introduction  of  Slavery  into  the  Territorie — Free  vs.  Slave  Labor — 
Advocates  the  Building  of  the  Pacific  Railroad 299 


CHAPTER  II. 


Reelected  to  Congress  in  1860 — Advocates  the  Election  of  Mr.  Lincoln — 
The  Secession  Troubles — Mr.  Blair  takes  his  Position  as  a  Union 
Man — The  War — lie  is  the  First  Union  Volunteer — Condition  of 
Affairs  in  Missouri — Services  of  Mr.  Blair — lie  Raises  Troops  in  St. 
Louis — Assists  Oapt.  Lyon — Removal  of  the  Arms  from  the  Arsenal 
— Capture  of  Camp  Jackson — Interview  with  Governor  Jackson — 
The  Capture  of  JeffL-rson  City— Ba;  tie  of  Booneville— Gallant  Con 
duct  of  Colonel  Blair — He  Leaves  for  "Washington — Effect  of  his 
Absence — Meeting  of  Congress  in  July,  1861 — Colonel  Blair  declines 
the  Speakership — Is  made  Chairman  of  the  Military  Committee — 
Procures  the  expulsion  of  Mr.  Clark — Speech  on  the  Battle  of  Bull 
Run — Defence  of  the  President — Returns  to  Missouri — Quarrel  with 
General  Fremont 824 

CHAPTER  III. 

Colonel  Blair  is  Requested  to  Raise  a  Brigade  in  Missouri — Is  made  Brig 
adier  General — Stationed  at  Helena,  Ark. — Grant's  First  Campaign 


296 


CONTENTS. 


aga'nst  Vicksburg — Sherman's  Expedition  against  Cldckasaw  Bluffs 
— The  Landing  of  the  Troops — The  Assault  of  the  29th  of  December, 
1862 — Gallant  Conduct  of  General  Blair— The  Assault  a  Failure — 
The  Capture  of  Arkansas  Post — General  Blair  made  a  Major-Gen 
eral  of  Volunteers — Assigned  the  Command  of  a  Division — His  Ser 
vices  in  the  Vuksburg  Campaign— Rejoins  Sherman  on  the  Big 
Black— The  Investment  of  Vicksburg— -The  Assaults  of  May  19th 
and  22d — Conduct  of  General  Blair — His  Reconnoissance  towards 
the  Big  Black — The  Second  Capture  of  Jackson,  Miss. — Is  made 
Sherman's  Second  in  Command — Put  in  Charge  of  the  Fifteenth 
Army  Corps — The  March  to  Chattanooga — The  Battles  of  Missionary 
R:dge— 'I  he  Pursuit  of  Bragg— The  Relief  of  Knoxville— General 
Blair  is  Deprived  of  his  Command 363 

CHAPTER  IV. 

General  Blair  is  Elected  to  Congress — Decides  to  be  Guided  by  the  Pres 
ident's  Wishes — Letter  of  Mr.  Lincoln — Takes  his  Seat  in  the  House — 
Sharp  Attacks  on  him — His  Bold  Reply — Denunciation  of  the  Abuses 
of  the  Governii'ent  in  the  Border  States — Denounces  the  Confisca 
tion  Bill — A  Powerful  Argument — Draws  upon  himself  the  Anger 
and  Malice  of  the  Extreme  Radicals— They  endeavor  to  Injure  his 
Reputation — Chargt  s  against  him  in  the  House — He  Denounces  their 
Author  as  a  Liar — Aeks  for  an  Investigation,  which  is  Ordered — Is 
Triumphantly  Acquitted — His  Speech  in  his  own  Defence — A  Power 
ful  Vindication — Malice  of  his  Enemies — He  Leaves  the  IIou?e  and 
Returns  to  the  Field — The  Radicals  try  to  Deprive  him  of  his  Com 
mand—Resolution  in  the  House — Reply  of  the  President — General 
Blair's  Persecutors  Defeated 384 

CHAPTER  V. 

General  Bla'r  Returns  to  the  Field — Is  given  Command  of  the  Seventeenth 
Corps  in  Sherman's  Army — The  Advance  to  Dalton — Altoona  Pass 
— Kenne?aw  Mountain — The  Capture  of  Atlanta — A  Hard  Campaign 
— The  Pursuit  of  Hood — "The  March  to  the  Sea  "—Army  Sketch 
cf  General  Blair — Details  of  the  March — The  Occupation  of  Savan 
nah—The  Seventeenth  Corps  Transferred  to  Hilton  Head— Blair's 
Mid  winter  March — The  Occupation  of  Columbia — The  March  through 
the  Carolinas— Occupation  of  Fayetteville — Battle  of  Bentonville — 
Surrender  of  General  Johnston — The  March  to  Washington — The 
Great  Review — General  Blair  Resigns  his  Commission 414 


CONTENTS.  297 

CHAPTEE  VI. 

General  Blair  Favors  a  Liberal  and  Generous  Policy  towards  the  South — 
Opposes  the  Ultra  Measures  of  the  Radicals — Denounces  the  Dis- 
franchisementLaw  of  the  Missouri  Legislature — Refuses  to  Subscribe 
to  the  Test  Oath — Is  Refused  his  Right  to  Vote — Separates  himself 
from  the  Republican  Party,  and  Unites  with  the  Democracy — Hi3 
Nomination  as  C<  Hector  of  Revenue  Rejected  by  the  Senate — Is 
Mentioned  as  a  Candidate  for  the  Presidency — Letter  to  Colonel 
Broadhead — Comments  of  the  Radicals — Statement  of  the  Herald — 
Speech  of  Hon.  Montgomery  Blair — The  Convention — General  Blair 
a  Candidate — Nominated  for  the  Vice-Presidency — Scene  in  the 
Convention — Formal  Tender  of  the  Nomination — Speech  of  General 
Morgan — Reply  of  General  Blair — Meeting  in  14th  Street — Speech 
of  General  Blair — His  Letter  of  Acceptance — His  Visit  to  the  West 
— His  Speech  at  Omaha — Tribute  from  the  Buffalo  Courier 430 


LIFE 


FRANCIS   P.  BLAIR,  JR. 


CHAPTER  I. 

Birth — Childhood — A  Favorite  with  General  Jackson— Attends  Princeton 
College — Studies  Law — Eemoves  to  St.  Louis — Failure  of  his  Health — 
Makes  a  Journey  to  the  Rocky  Mountains — Volunteers  for  the  Mexican 
"War — His  Services  during  that  Struggle — Political  Life — Supports  Mr. 
Van  Buren — Acts  with  the  Republican  Party — His  Opposition  to 
Slavery — Elected  to  the  Legislature — Elected  to  the  35th  Congress — 
His  Career  in  Congress — His  Plan  for  Relieving  the  Country  of  the 
Negroes — A  Remarkable  Speech — The  Scheme  both  Wise  and  Practi 
cable — Speech  on  the  Volunteer  Bill — Opposes  the  Introduction  of 
Slavery  into  the  Territories — Free  vs.  Slave  Labor — Advocates  the 
Building  of  the  Pacific  Railroad. 

FRANCIS  PRESTON  BLAIR,  JR.,  was  born  in  the  town 
of  Lexington,  Kentucky,  on  the  19th  of  February,  1821. 
He  is  the  son  of  Francis  P.  Blair.  Sr.,  at  present  a 
citizen  of  the  State  of  Maryland,  and  a  gentleman  who 
has  filled  a  distinguished  and  conspicuous  place  in  the 
political  history  of  the  country.  Soon  after  the  birth 
of  young  Frank,  Mr.  Blair,  Sr.,  removed  to  Washington 
City,  where  the  childhood  of  the  former  was  spent. 
Mr.  Blair,  Sr.,  was  an  intimate  friend  of  General  Jack 
son,  and  was  honored  with  the  confidence  of  the  old 
hero  to  an  extent  rarely  enjoyed  by  any  one,  and  young 
Frank  was  a  frequent  visitor  at  the  White  House  and 


300  LIFE    OF   FRANCIS    P.  BLAIR,  JR. 

a  favorite  with  its  distinguished  occupant.  The  boy 
received  a  careful  education  at  the  best  schools  in  the 
District,  and  as  soon  as  he  was  prepared,  was  placed 
in  Princeton  College,  New  Jersey,  where  he  graduated 
in  his  twentieth  year  with  distinction.  Returning  to 
Lexington,  he  studied  law,  and  was  admitted  to  the 
bar,  after  which  he  removed  to  St.  Louis,  in  1843, 
and  began  the  practice  of  his  profession,  in  which  he 
achieved  a  rapid  and  brilliant  success.  He  applied  him 
self  so  closely  to  his  work  that  his  severe  labor  began 
to  tell  on  his  strong  constitution,  and  in  1845,  being 
then  in  his  twenty-fifth  year,  he  made  a  journey  to  the 
Rocky  Mountains,  in  company  with  a  party  of  trappers, 
for,  the  benefit  of  his  health,  which  was  completely  re 
stored  by  the  trip.  Returning  to  St.  Louis,  he  resumed 
his  practice. 

The  Mexican  War  now  broke  out,  and  Mr.  Blair, 
abandoning  the  law  for  a  time,  was  among  the  first  to 
volunteer  his  services  for  the  defence  of  the  country. 
He  served  through  the  struggle  as  a  lieutenant  of 
volunteers,  and  took  part  in  the  expedition  to  New 
Mexico  under  Kearney  and  Doniphan.  He  gained  a 
high  reputation  for  bravery  and  efficiency  in  this  war, 
and  gave  the  first  evidences  of  the  military  genius 
he  has  since  displayed  in  such  a  marked  degree. 

After  the  peace,  he  returned  to  St.  Louis  and 
resumed  the  practice  of  his  profession.  His  heredi 
tary  predilection  for  politics  now  caused  him  to  enter 
zealously  into  the  Presidential  campaign  of  1848,  in 
which  he  ardently  supported  the  nomination  of  Mr. 
Van  Buren,  the  candidate  of  the  Buffalo  Free  Soil,  or 


ELECTED    TO    CONGRESS.  301 

Republican  Convention,  and  vigorously  opposed  the 
extension  of  Slavery  in  the  Territories.  Thencefor 
ward  he  always  acted  in  concert  with  the  Republican 
party,  the  position  of  the  Democracy  with  regard  to 
slavery  preventing  him  from  uniting  himself  with  them. 
In  1852  he  was  elected  to  the  Missouri  Legislature,  as 
an  avowed  Free  Soiler,  representing  the  county  of  St. 
Louis,  and  in  1854  was  returned  to  that  body,  although 
Thomas  H.  Benton,  the  candidate  of  his  party  for 
Congress,  was  defeated.  Mr.  Blair  was  for  some  time 
an  editor  and  writer  for  the  Missouri  Democrat,  and 
his  articles  were  among  the  most  successful  and  popu 
lar  published  in  that  journal. 

In  the  fall  of  J  856,  Mr.  Blair  was  nominated  to  Con 
gress  by  the  Republicans  of  St.  Louis,  and  elected  over 
Mr.  ELennett,  the  Democratic  candidate  who  had  two 
years  previous  defeated  Colonel  Benton.  He  took  his\^ 
seat  in  the  Thirty-fifth  Congress,  which  met  on  the  7th 
of  December  1857,  the  only  Republican  from  Missouri./' 
He  took  a  commanding  position  in  the  House  from  thd 
first,  and  was  regarded  as  one  of  the  ablest  and  most\ 
fearless  members  of  that  body.  He  was  an  uncom 
promising  adversary  of  the  system  of  slavery,  but  his 
hostility  to  the  institution,  which  was  founded  on  high 
principle,  did  not  degenerate  into  hatred  of  the 
slaveholders,  among  whom  were  many  of  his  warm 
est  personal  friends.  Besides  condemning  slavery 
upon  grounds  of  morality,  he  believed  it  to  be  an  ele 
ment  of  weakness  not  only  to  the  South,  but  to  the 
whole  country,  and  he  was  anxious  to  get  rid  of  it  by 
all  lawful  means  ;  and  as  a  sure  way  of  accomplishing 


302  LIFE    OF   FRANCIS    P.  BLAIR,  JR. 

this,  he  was  in  favor  of  preventing  its  extension  and 
confining  it  within  its  then  existing  limits.  As  a 
means  of  getting  rid  of  the  system,  he  proposed  a  plan 
which  is  set  forth  in  the  following  Resolution,  offered 
by  him  in  the  House  of  Representatives,  on  the  14th 
of  January,  1858  : 

"  Resolved,  That  a  select  committee,  to  consist  of 
—  members,  be  appointed  by  the  Speaker,  with  in 
structions  to  inquire  into  the  expediency  of  providing 
for  the  acquisition  of  territory  either  in  the  Central  or 
South  American  States,  to  be  colonized  with  colored 
persons  from  the  United  States  who  are  now  free,  or 
who  may  hereafter  become  free,  and  who  may  be  wil 
ling  to  settle  in  such  territory  as  a  dependency  of  the 
United  States,  with  ample  guarantees  of  their  personal 
and  political  rights." 

Mr.  Blair  addressed  the  House  in  support  of  this 
resolution,  in  a  speech  of  considerable  length  and  great 
force.  We  make  the  following  extracts  from  the 
speech,  as  it  is  a  full  and  clear  statement  of  the  views 
of  its  author  : 

"  It  was  remarked  by  a  gentleman  from  Tennessee 
[Mr.  MAYNARD]  the  other  day,  on  this  floor,  that  he 
had  hoped  and  believed  that  this  question  would  be 
discussed  and  disposed  of  without  reference  to  the  sub 
ject  of  slavery,  because,  he  said,  there  were  no  slaves 
in  Central  America.  The  inquiry  was  made  immedi 
ately,  by  many  around  me,  '  How  long  will  it  be  before 
there  are  slaves  there  ? '  This  inquiry  shows,  what  is 
almost  universally  felt  to  be  true,  that  the  slavery 
question  is  at  the  bottom  of  this  whole  movement. 


SPEECH  ON  THE  SLAVERY  QUESTION.       303 

There  is  a  party  in  tins  country  who  go  for  the  exten 
sion  of  slavery  ;  and  these  predatory  incursions  against 
our  neighbors  are  the  means  by  which  territory  is  to  be 
seized,  planted  with  slavery,  annexed  to  this  Union, 
and,  in  combination  with  the  present  slaveholding 
States,  made  to  dominate  this  Government,  and  the 
entire  continent ;  or,  failing  in  the  policy  of  annexa 
tion,  to  unite  with  the  slave  States  in  a  southern  slave  - 
holding  Republic.  I  believe  that  there  are  those  who 
entertain  such  a  purpose.  I  am  opposed  to  the  whole 
scheme,  and  to  every  part  of  it ;  and,  in  order  to  op 
pose  it  successfully,  I  think  we  should  recur  to  the 
plans  cherished  by  the  great  men  who  founded  this 
Republic.  I  think  we  ought  to  put  it  out  of  the  power 
of  any  body  of  men  to  plant  slavery  anywhere  on  this 
continent,  by  taking  immediate  steps  to  give  to  all  of 
these  countries  that  require  it,  and  especially  to  the 
Central  American  States,  the  power  to  sustain  free 
institutions  under  stable  governments ;  and,  as  one 
method  of  doing  this,  we  might  plant  those  countries 
with  a  class  of  men  who  are  worse  than  useless  to  us, 
who  would  prove  themselves  to  be  of  immense  advan 
tage  to  those  countries,  who  would  attract  the  wealth 
and  energy  of  our  best  men  to  aid  and  direct  them  in 
developing  the  incredible  riches  of  those  regions,  and 
thus  open  them  to  our  commerce,  and  the  commerce  of 
the  whole  world.  I  refer  to  our  enfranchised  slaves,  all 
of  that  class  who  would  willingly  embrace  the  offer  to 
form  themselves  into  a  colony  under  the  protection  of 
our  flag,  and  the  guarantee  of  the  Republic  of  every 
personal  and  political  right  necessary  to  their  safety 
and  prosperity. 


304:  LIFE    OF   FRANCIS    P.  BLAIR,  JR. 

"  What  I  propose  is  not  new  ;  it  is  bottomed  on  the 
reasoning  and  recommendation  of  Mr.  Jefferson. 
Speaking  of  a  proposition,  similar  in  many  respects, 
urged  by  him  upon  the  Legislature  of  his  native  State, 
he  says  : 

4  It  was,  however,  found  that  the  public  mind 
would  not  yet  bear  the  proposition,  nor  will  it  bear  it 
even  at  this  day  ;  yet  the  day  is  not  far  distant  when 
it  must  bear  it,  and  adopt  it,  or  worse  will  follow. 
Nothing  is  more  certainly  written  in  the  book  of  fate, 
than  that  these  people  (the  negroes)  are  to  be  free  ;  nor 
is  it  less  certain  that  the  two  races,  equally  free,  can 
not  live  in  the  same  Government.  Nature,  habit, 
opinion,  have  drawn  indelible  lines  of  distinction  be 
tween  them.  It  is  still  in  our  power  to  direct  the  pro 
cess  Of  EMANCIPATION  AND  DEPORTATION,  and  in  Such 

slow  degree  as  that  the  evil  will  wear  off  insensibly, 
and  their  place  bepari  passu  filled  up  by  free  white 
laborers.  If,  on  the  contrary,  it  is  left  to  force  itself 
on,  human  nature  must  shudder  at  the  prospect  held 
up.  We  should  in  vain  look  for  an  example  in  the 
Spanish  deportation  or  deletion  of  the  Moors.1 

"  The  time  has  ripened  for  the  execution  of  Mr.  Jef 
ferson's  plan.  By  adopting  it,  we  may  relieve  our 
selves  of  a  people  who  are  a  burden  to  us ;  give  to 
them  an  amount  of  happiness  and  comfort  they  can 
never  realize  here,  where  they  are  treated  as  a  degraded 
class ;  reinvigorate  the  feeble  people  of  the  southern 
Republics,  and  open  up  to  the  enterprise  of  our  mer 
chants  the  untold  wealth  of  the  intertropical  region, 
containing  a  greater  amount  of  productive  land  than 


SPEECH   ON    THE    NEGRO    QUESTION.  305 

all  the  balance  of  the  continent ;  put  a  stop  to  the 
African  slave  trade,  which  is  created  and  kept  up  by 
the  demand  for  tropical  productions  ;  by  supplying 
that  demand  by  the  labor  of  the  only  class  of  freemen 
capable  of  exertion  in  that  climate.  I  make  this  prop 
osition  to  meet,  oppose,  and  defeat  that  which  seeks 
by  violence  to  re-establish  slavery,  reopen  the  African 
slave  trade,  subject  those  regions,  in  Walker's  own 
language,  "  to  military  rule"  and  exclude  from  them 
the  people  of  the  northern  States.  I  shall  discuss  and 
compare  these  propositions  as  fully  as  the  time  limited 
will  allow  me. 

"  Mr.  Randolph,  in  one  of  his  most  celebrated 
speeches  in  the  Senate,  addressing  himself  to  Mr.  Cal- 
houn,  said : 

c  Sir,  I  know  there  are  gentlemen,  not  only  from 
the  southern,  but  the  northern  States,  who  think  that 
this  unhappy  question — for  such  it  is — of  negro  sla 
very,  which  the  Constitution  has  vainly  attempted  to 
blink  by  not  using  the  term,  should  never  be  brought 
into  public  notice,  more  especially  into  that  of  Con 
gress,  and  most  especially  here.  Sir,  with  every  due 
respect  for  the  gentlemen  who  think  so,  I  differ  with 
them  toto  ccelo.  Sir,  it  is  a  thing  which  cannot  be 
hid.  It  is  not  a  dry  rot  that  you  can  cover  with  a 
carpet  until  the  house  tumbles  about  your  ears.  You 
might  as  well  try  to  hide  a  volcano  in  full  operation. 
It  cannot  be  hid  ;  it  is  a  cancer  on  your  face,  and  must 
not  be  tampered  with  by  quacks,  who  never  saw  the 
disease  or  the  patient,  and  prescribe  across  the  Atlantic. 
It  must  be,  if  you  will,  let  alone. 
20 


306  LIFE    OF   FRANCIS    P.  BLAIR,  JR. 

'  But  no,  sir  ;  the  politico-religious  quacks,  like  the 
quack  in  medicine  and  in  everything  else,  will  hear  of 
nothing  but  his  nostrum  ;  all  is  to  be  forced — nothing 
can  be  trusted  to  time  or  to  nature.  The  disease  has 
run  its  course;  it  has  run  its  course  in  the  northern 
States,  it  is  beginning  to  run  its  course  in  Maryland. 
The  natural  death  of  slavery  is  the  unprofitableness 
of  its  most  expensive  labor.  It  is  also  beginning  in 
the  meadow  and  grain  country  of  Virginia — among 
those  people  there  who  have  no  staple  that  can  pay  for 
slave  labor.1 

"  He  then  points  his  conclusion  in  a  way  to  make 
it  stick  in  the  memories  of  the  masters  of  slaves,  to 
whom  he  addressed  himself: 

'  The  moment  the  labor  of  the  slave  ceases  to  be 
profitable  to  the  master,  or  very  soon  after  it  has  reached 
that  stage,  if  the  slave  will  not  run  away  from  the  mas 
ter  ^  the  master  will  run  away  from  the  slave? 

"  Mr.  Chairman,  I  am  Mr.  Randolph's  proselyte ; 
he  was  no  Abolitionist,  although  aware  that  slavery 
was  sapping  the  very  foundations  of  the  free  institu 
tions  of  his  country — a  cancer  on  the  face,  which,  un 
less  removed,  would  eat  into  the  vitals  of  the  Repub 
lic.  I  concur  in  his  opinion,  that  the  master  must  run 
away  from  his  slaves,  unless  they  run  away  from  him. 
Unhappily  for  the  slave  States,  many  of  their  enter 
prising  young  men  leave  their  native  land  for  those 
States  where  individual  ability  and  exertion  are  suffi 
cient  to  confer  wealth  and  eminence ;  and  all  of  that 
oppressed  class  who  are  compelled  to  labor  with  their 
naked  hands,  and  struggle  for  existence  in  competition 


SPEECH    ON    THE    NEGRO    QUESTION.  307 

with  the  monopolizing  slave  power  that  holds  the  soil, 
and  bands  together,  by  a  common  interest,  the  capital, 
the  intelligence,  and  influence  of  the  order  controlling 
the  government  of  the  Commonwealth  to  make  it  par 
amount,  would  also  fly,  if  they  had  the  means  of  flight, 
or  a  spot  on  earth  they  could  call  their  own  to  receive 
them.  Although  the  time  has  not  yet  come  when  the 
masters  are  ready  to  run  away  from  their  slaves,  it 
will  doubtless  come,  if  ever  that  great  mass  of  freemen 
who  feel  the  weight  of  the  institution  pressing  them 
to  the  earth,  should  have  the  means  of  reaching  home 
steads  in  happier  regions,  where  their  labor  might 
render  them  independent.  Can  any  condition  be  more 
lamentable  for  a  State  than  that  which  makes  it  the 
obvious  interest  of  the  mass  of  its  free  population  to 
abandon  it?  and  if  poverty  prevents  this  desertion, 
the  cause  of  detention,  constantly  increasing,  must  in 
the  end  grow  into  a  frightful  calamity. 

"  Every  statesman  who  has  looked  into  the  condi 
tion  of  the  slave  States,  has  always  found  it  full  of 
difficulties.  Mr.  Randolph's  solution  does  not  end 
them,  unless  we  go  a  step  further.  Where  would  the 
slaves  go  if  they  could  run  away  ?  The  North  may 
receive  an  absconding  straggler  here  and  there,  but 
what  States  would  receive  five  million  of  slaves  ?  or 
how  would  the  runaways  be  anywhere  provided  for? 
The  free  States  which  have  put  an  interdict,  so  far 
away  as  remote  Oregon,  upon  the  admission  of  free 
blacks,  even  in  the  stinted  number  which  might  come 
from  the  limited  emancipation  permitted  in  the  South, 
would  hardly  receive  millions  upon  a  general  jail  de- 


308  LIFE    OF   FRANCIS    P.  BLAIR,  JR. 

livery.  Nor  can  the  masters  run  away  from  their 
slaves,  unless  the  North  is  ready  to  become  a  St.  Do 
mingo  ;  nor  emancipate  them  en  masse  without  mak 
ing  it  a  St.  Domingo." 

x  •?«•**** 

"Mr.  Chairman,  there  is  nothing  in  the  compar 
ative  progress  of  the  slave  and  free  States,  since  the 
illustrious  patriots  of  Virginia,  in  the  last  and  most 
solemn  act  of  their  lives,  bore  their  testimony  against 
the  institution  which  now  convulses  the  Confederacy, 
tending  to  condemn  their  policy.  There  is  much  in 
the  aspect  now  given  to  our  affairs  by  that  fatal 
element,  against  which  their  forecast  gave  warning,  to 
prove  that  their  solicitude  to  remove  it  had  its  root  in 
that  sound  judgment  and  devoted  love  to  the  country, 
which  made  the  strongest  features  of  their  characters. 
One  great  difficulty  obstructed  these  efforts.  Emanci 
pation  was  easy,  but  the  amalgamation  of  the  white 
and  black  races  was  abhorrent,  and  their  existence  as 
equals,  under  the  same  Government,  was  for  that 
reason  impossible.  They  were,  nevertheless,  resolved 
to  make  the  experiment  of  the  gradual  abolition  of 
slavery,  hoping  that  time  would  make  some  outlet  to 
the  degraded  caste.  I  believe  the  existing  circum 
stances  on  this  continent  now  justify  that  hope.  The 
attempt  of  African  colonization,  to  relieve  us  of  the 
load,  has  failed.  The  immense  distance,  and  the  bar 
barous  state  of  the  mother  country,  to  which  we  would 
restore  its  improved  race  that  has  arisen  among  us,  has 
paralyzed  all  the  efforts  of  the  benevolent  society  that 
has  labored  so  long  in  vain  to  form  a  community  in 


SPEECH    ON   THE    NEGRO    QUESTION.  309 

Liberia  which  would  draw  hence  its  kindred  emanci 
pated  population,  and  establish  a  nation  there  to  spread 
civilization  and  religion  over  Africa.  Time  has  shown 
that  the  causes  which  have  produced  races,  never  to 
improve  Africa,  or  to  be  improved  there,  but  to  aban 
don  it  and  give  their  vigor  and  derive  their  advance 
ment  in  other  climes,  are  not  to  be  reversed  by  the 
best  efforts  of  the  best  of  men.  '  Westward  the  star 
of  empire  takes  its  way,'  is  a  prophesy  which  will  find 
its  accomplishment  within  the  tropics  as  well  as  out 
side  of  them  on  this  continent.  Liberty  and  security 
promote  enterprise  and  industry,  and  so  create  that 
intelligence  which  brings  in  its  train  civilization  and 
Christianity.  Africa  is  a  desert,  in  which  every  effort 
to  propagate  the  elements  which  lead  to  such  results 
have  proved  failures;  and  for  ages  Africa  has  ever 
been  4  the  house  of  bondage.1 

"As  Americans,  it  is  our  first  interest  to  take  care 
of  this  continent,  and  provide  for  the  races  on  whose 
faculties  and  labor  its  advancement  depends.  In  my 
opinion,  the  door  is  now  open  in  Central  America  to 
receive  the  enfranchised  colored  race  born  amongst  us, 
and  which  has  received,  with  our  language  and  the 
habits  contracted  under  our  institutions,  much  that 
adapts  it  to  sustain  a  part  in  giving  stability  to  the  in 
stitutions  copied  from  ours  in  the  Central  American 
Republics."  *  *  *  * 

Mr.  Blair  then  declared  that  it  was  the  intention 
of  the  Pro- Slavery  party  to  force  slavery  upon  Central 
America,  and  that  President  Buchanan  had  lent  him 
self  to  the  scheme.  Said  he : 


310  LIFE    OF   FRANCIS    P.  BLAIR,  JR. 

"The  purpose  of  subjecting  Central  America  to 
slavery  has  been  boldly  proclaimed ;  and  the  opening 
of  the  African  slave  trade  is  relied  upon  to  fill  up  the 
void  in  the  laboring  population  which  must  be  made 
by  the  war  and  the  expulsion  of  dangerous  classes.  Is 
it  not  a  degradation  of  the  nation  which  stands  on  this 
continent  as  the  first  asserter  of  its  freedom  and  inde 
pendence,  and  the  great  exemplar  of  popular  sove 
reignty  in  the  world,  to  have  a  Chief  Magistrate  and 
controlling  councils  harboring  designs  which  they  dare 
not  avow,  and  seeking  by  sly  intrigues  to  involve  it  in 
a  war,  to  accomplish  schemes  which  the  people  would 
spurn  with  disgust,  if  promulgated  before  they  became 
committed  in  the  conflict  ?  I  have  no  doubt  my  coun 
trymen  would  regard  with  just  indignation,  and  resist 
an  attempt  by  England  to  turn  our  flank  on  the  Gulf 
of  Mexico.  That  she  spreads  her  dominion  across 
this  continent,  from  the  Gulf  of  the  St.  Lawrence  to 
Vancouver's  Island  on  the  Pacific,  bringing  its  pres 
sure  to  bear  upon  our  whole  northern  frontier,  is  as 
much  constraint  as  can  be  endured.  The  nation  would 
be  willing  to  close  this  century  as  it  began — in  hostility 
with  England — rather  than  to  submit  to  encroachment 
in  our  southern  quarter.  For  this  reason  our  Govern 
ment  insisted  that  Great  Britain  should  abandon  the 
assumed  protectorate  claimed  over  the  coasts  of  Cen 
tral  America.  She  relinquished  it ;  but  she  stipulated 
with  Honduras  that  the  subjects  left  by  her  in  the  Bay 
Islands  should  continue  to  enjoy  the  free  institutions 
which  she  had  planted  there.  Our  own  citizen,  Mr. 
Wells,  looking  to  the  establishment  of  our  influence 


Xfcg^C* 
SPEECH    ON    THE    NEGRO    QUESTION.  311 

through  our  institutions  in  this  quarter,  hails  this  step 
as  i  the  establishment  in  Central  America  of  Republi 
can  institutions,  which  are  not  to  be  overthrown  at  the 
caprice  of  temporary  rulers? 

"  Can  Mr.  Buchanan  summon  hardihood  to  involve 
this  country  in  a  war  to  expel  the  freedom  guarantied 
to  the  Bay  Islands  by  the  treaty  made  with  the  dicta 
tor  Guardiola,  and  subject  them  to  his  absolute  author 
ity?  I  would  rather  hope  that  our  Government,  if 
riot  now,  may  yet,  under  another  Presidency,  extend 
its  influence  over  the  mainland  of  Central  America, 
by  giving  its  support  to  maintain  Governments  there 
based  upon  its  own  republican  principles.  To  do  this, 
we  must,  like  England  in  the  case  of  the  Bay  Islands, 
send  our  people  into  the  country,  protect  our  merchants 
in  their  enterprises  there,  and  make  an  honest  demon 
stration  of  the  fixed  purpose  of  our  Government  to  build 
up  the  prosperity  of  Central  America  for  its  own  and 

our  advantage" 

«  #  #  #  #  # 

He  avowed  his  belief  that  the  only  permanent  and 
peaceful  solution  of  the  negro  question  lay  in  colon 
izing  them  in  some  other  country — a  suggestion  richly 
worth  the  consideration  of  our  people  at  the  present 
day.  He  said,  in  support  of  this  proposition : 

"  Mr.  Chairman,  it  is  evident  to  every  man  of 
thought  that  the  freed  blacks  hold  a  place  in  this 
country  which  cannot  be  maintained.  Those  who 
have  fled  to  the  North  are  most  unwelcome  visitors. 
The  strong  repugnance  of  the  free  white  laborer  to  be 
yoked  with  the  negro  refugee  breeds  an  enmity  between 


312  LIFE    OF   FRANCIS    P.  BLAIR,  JR. 

races,  which  must  end  in  the  expulsion  of  the  latter. 
Centuries  could  not  reconcile  the  Spaniards  to  the 
Moors ;  and  although  the  latter  were  the  most  useful 
people  in  Spain,  their  expulsion  was  the  only  way  to 
peace.  In  spite  of  all  that  reason  or  religion  can  urge, 
nature  has  put  a  badge  upon  the  African,  making 
amalgamation  revolting  to  our  race.  Centuries  have 
shown  that  even  the  aboriginal  race  of  this  continent, 
although  approaching  our  species  in  every  respect  more 
nearly,  perish  from  contiguity  with  the  white  man. 
But  I  will  not  argue  the  point.  The  law  of  the  North 
has  put  its  ban  upon  immigration  of  negroes  into  the 
free  States. 

"  In  the  South,  causes  more  potent  still  make  it  im 
possible  that  the  emancipated  blacks  can  remain  there. 
The  multiplication  of  slaves  and  freed  men  of  the  same 
caste  in  the  section  where  the  dominant  race  must 
become  proportionately  fewer  from  emigration,  has 
already  compelled  the  latter  to  prohibit  emancipation 
within  the  States,  and  to  seek  means  of  deliverance 
from  the  free  blacks.  The  Northern  States  will  not 
receive  them ;  the  Southern  States  dare  not  retain 
them.  What  is  to  be  done  ?  What  was  done  with 
the  native  population  which  it  was  found  incompatible 
with  the  interests  of  Georgia  and  the  States  southwest 
of  the  Ohio,  and  the  States  northwest,  to  indulge  with 
homes  within  their  limits  ?  The  United  States  held  it 
to  be  a  national  duty  to  purchase  their  lands  from 
them,  acquire  homes  for  them  in  other  regions,  and  to 
hold  out  inducements  and  provide  the  means  for  their 
removal  to  them.  Have  not  the  negroes,  born  on  our 


SPEECH    ON   THE   NEGRO    QUESTION.  313 

soil,  who  have  grown  up  among  us,  and  although  fated 
to  be  a  burden  and  obstruction  to  our  progress — yet 
always  in  amity  and  laboring  to  render  service — equal 
claims  upon  us  with  the  savages,  against  whom  we 
have  had  to  fight  our  way  for  centuries,  resisting  all 
attempts  to  bring  them  within  the  pale  of  civilization  ? 
"  The  President,  in  his  late  message,  proposes  to 
gather  these  savages  in  colonies,  and  at  an  early  day 
raise  them  to  the  dignity  of  forming  States,  and 
assuming  equality  with  the  States  of  the  Union.  The 
Africans,  bred  and  educated  within  civilized  commu 
nities,  who  speak  our  language,  are  listeners  at  our 
canvasses,  lookers-on  at  the  elections,  worshipers  in 
our  churches,  and  constantly  witness  the  processes  of 
improvement  in  our  society,  in  the  field,  the  workshop, 
and  every  domestic  scene — one  would  think  quite  as 
capable  of  being  disciplined  in  colonies,  and  fitted  to 
take  part  in  the  Government  of  the  Union  as  the 
Shawnees,  Pottawatomies,  Winnebagoes,  the  Sacs  and 
Foxes,  removed  from  the  northwest,  or  the  Cherokees, 
Choctaws,  Creeks,  and  Seminoles,  from  the  southwest 
As  far  as  respects  the  Sioux,  Pawnees,  Cheyennes, 
Utahs,  Camanches,  and  Blackfeet,  the  President  might 
have  spared  his  recommendation  until  they  are  caught. 
I  believe  the  people  who  constitute  this  Confederacy 
will  forever  scout  the  idea  of  blending  either  Indian  or 
negro  States  with  it.  The  aboriginal  or  imported  tribes 
which  cannot  amalgamate  with  our  race,  can  never 
share  in  its  Government  in  equal  sovereignties.  In  the 
benevolent  design  of  colonizing  the  Indians,  protecting 
and  aiding  their  efforts  to  gain  a  subsistence  by  culti- 


314  LIFE   OF   FRANCIS    P.  BLAIR,  JR. 

vating  the  soil  set  apart  for  them,  I  most  heartily  con 
cur  ;  but  I  think,  whatever  form  of  society  they  may 
assume,  they  must  always  be  held  as  dependencies — 
not  upon  the  footing  of  equality  with  the  States. 

"  And  ought  not  the  Government  to  be  equally 
provident  for  such  portions  of  the  unfortunate  race 
born  to  slavery,  but  who,  having  attained  freedom,  find 
that  it  renders  them  a  burden  to  those  among  whom 
they  live — a  burden  that  will  not  be  borne?  This  is 
the  question  which  absolute  necessity  now  forces  on  the 
consideration  of  the  country — one  deeply  affecting 
the  interests  and  feelings  of  slaveholders  and  non-slave 
holders  of  the  superior  race,  and  of  more  than  half  a 
million  already  manumitted  inferiors  pressed  down  by 
their  weight." 

The  Liberal  party  of  Central  America,  he  said, 
would  gladly  welcome  those  negroes  who  would  settle 
among  them  ;  and  he  urged  upon  the  House  that  such 
a  colonization  would  increase  and  strengthen  the  influ 
ence  of  the  United  States  in  Central  America  more 
than  anything  else  could,  and  declared  that  it  was  far 
wiser  and  honester  to  plant  our  influence  in  that 
country  in  such  a  way,  than  to  encourage  such  expedi 
tions  as  Walker's.  Near  the  close  of  the  speech,  he 
said : 

"  In  my  opinion,  the  propagation  of  slavery  can 
only  be  successfully  resisted  by  the  propagation  of  free 
dom.  It  is  this  mission,  arrogated  by  Great  Britain 
as  peculiarly  hers,  which  has  conferred  on  her  the  pre 
ponderance  she  holds  in  almost  every  portion  of  the 
earth.  She  has  swayed  it  with  an  iron  hand,  but 


SPEECH    ON   THE  NEGRO    QUESTION.  315 

everywhere  of  late  years  Anglo-Saxon  justice,  civili 
zation,  and  Christianity,  wherever  they  prevailed,  have 
allowed  every  man  to  feel  the  comfort  of  laboring  for 
himself,  and  he  has  labored  all  the  better  for  his  country. 

"  Great  Britain  has  her  hands  full  in  Christianizing, 
civilizing,  and  improving,  for  commercial  usefulness,  the 
old  continents.  She  must  leave  to  us  the  regeneration 
of  the  new  one  ;  and  this  I  find,  from  a  paper  in  a  late 
Westminster  Review,  marked  by  the  editor  with  an 
unusual  notification  ascribing  it  to  '  an  able  and  dis 
tinguished  contributor^  seems  to  be  the  opinion  of  some 
of  the  great  men  of  England.  This  eloquent  writer, 
describing  the  missions  of  what  he  calls  *  the  four 
Empires,1  RUSSIA,  FRANCE,  GREAT  BRITAIN,  and  the 
UNITED  STATES,  assigns  its  office  to  the  latter  in  the 
following  passage : 

'  And  it  may  once  for  all  be  assumed  that  the 
human  race,  whatever  Cabinets  or  Parliaments  may 
think  of  it,  will  not  be  driven  from  their  inevitable 
course.  The  work  which  has  begun  so  largely  will  go 
forward.  The  Asiatic  independence  which  survives 
will  narrow  down  and  grow  feebler,  and  at  last  die. 
The  will  and  the  intellect  of  the  more  advanced  races 
will  rule  in  due  time  over  that  whole  continent.  The 
genius  of  France  will  follow  the  shores  of  the  Mediterra 
nean  ;  the  line  of  kingdoms  which  divides  the  empires 
of  England  and  Russia  will  grow  thinner,  till  their 
frontiers  touch.  In  spite  of  Clayton-Bulwer  treaties, 
and  Dallas-Clarendon  interpretations  of  them,  the 
United  States  will  stretch  their  shadow  ever  further 
south.  Revolution  will  cease  to  tear  the  empire  of 


316  LIFE    OF    FRANCIS    P.  BLAIR,  JR. 

Montezuma.  The  failing  Republics  of  Central  Ame 
rica  will  not  forever  be  a  temptation,  by  their  weak 
ness,  to  the  attacks  of  lawless  ruffians.  The  valley  of 
the  mighty  Amazon,  which  would  grow  corn  enough  to 
feed  a  thousand  million  mouths,  must  fall  at  last  to 
those  who  will  force  it  to  yield  its  treasures.  The 
ships  which  carry  the  commerce  of  America  into  the 
Pacific,  carry,  too,  American  justice  and  American 
cannon  as  the  preachers  of  it.  The  Emperor  of  Japan 
supposed,  that  by  Divine  right,  doing  as  he  would 
with  his  own,  he  might  close  his  country  against  his 
kind ;  that  when  vessels  in  distress  were  driven  into 
his  port,  he  might  seize  their  crews  as  slaves,  or  kill 
them  as  unlicensed  trespassers.  An  armed  squadron, 
with  the  star-spangled  banner  flying,  found  its  way 
into  the  Japan  waters,  and  his  serene  Majesty  was  in 
structed  that  in  nature's  statute-book  there  is  no  right 
conferred  on  any  man  to  act  unrighteously,  because  it 
is  his  pleasure ;  that  in  their  own  time  and  by  their  own 
means,  the  upper  powers  will  compel  him,  whether  he 
pleases  or  not,  to  bring  his  customs  in  conformity  with 


wiser  usage. 


"  The  starting-point  in  this  new  career,  is  the  re 
sumption  of  the  progress  which  received  its  impulse  in 
the  revolution  tending  to  the  deliverance  of  the  white 
laboring  class  of  this  country  from  the  superincumbent 
weight  of  African  slavery.  This  redemption  of  our 
own  race  from  its  vassalage  under  slavery  has  been 
brought  to  a  stand-still,  and  six  millions  of  our  free 
white  kindred  endure  deprivation,  corporeal  and  intel 
lectual,  from  the  slave  occupation  of  the  soil  and  of 


SPEECH    ON   THE    NEGRO    QUESTION.  317 

the  pursuits  which  would  add  to  their  means  of  living 
and  their  sources  of  mental  improvement.  Neither 
the  slave  owners,  nor  the  slave  States,  are  responsible 
for  the  arrest  of  the  enfranchisement  which  promised 
blessings  to  the  toilers  of  both  races.  For,  whether  as 
a  slave  or  free  man,  the  presence  of  multitudes  of  the 
black  race  is  found  to  be  fatal  to  the  interests  of  our 
race :  their  antagonism  is  as  strong  as  that  of  oil  and 
water,  and  so  long  as  no  convenient  outlet,  through 
which  the  manumitted  slave  can  reach  a  congenial  cli 
mate  and  country  willing  to  receive  him,  is  afforded, 
the  institution  of  slavery  stands  on  compulsion.  But 
let  me  suppose  Central  America — tempting  in  gold 
and  every  production  of  the  tropical  soil  to  stimulate 
exertion,  with  a  climate  innoxious  only  to  the  black 
man — were  opened  up  to  him,  under  circumstances  to 
advance  him  in  the  scale  of  humanity,  how  long  before 
masters  in  all  the  temperate  slave  States  would  make 
compositions  to  liberate  them  on  terms  that  would  in 
demnify  them  for  transplantation  ?  Hundreds  of 
more  benevolent  owners  would,  from  a  sense  of  public 
good  and  for  conscience  sake,  by  wills,  or  by  deeds  of 
emancipation,  make  this  deliverance,  if  the  General 
Government  would  take  the  charge  of  the  deportation 
to  the  region  it  might  acquire  for  them — a  gradual  and 
voluntary  emancipation  by  individuals,  if  not  by  States, 
would  thus  in  time  be  accomplished.  I  hold  that  it  is 
the  duty  of  the  nation  to  offer  this  boon  to  slavehol 
ders  and  to  the  slave  States  to  enable  them  to  have 
complete  control  of  the  subject,  which  is  the  source  of 
so  much  anxiety  and  mischief  to  them." 


318  LIFE    OF   FRANCIS    P.  BLAIR,  JR. 

This  speech  attracted  great  attention  throughout 
the  country,  and  there  are  to-day  many  who  agree  with 
its  author  that  the  plan  proposed  by  him  was  and  is 
still  both  wise  and  practicable. 

On  the  16th  of  March,  1858,  Mr.  Blair  introduced 
a  bill  making  an  appropriation  for  the  improvement 
of  the  Mississippi,  Missouri,  Ohio,  and  Arkansas 
Rivers  by  contract,  which  was  read  a  first  and  second 
time,  and  referred  to  the  Committee  on  Commerce. 

On  the  18th  of  March,  1858,  the  House  having 
under  consideration  the  bill  for  raising  additional  vol 
unteer  regiments,  Mr.  Blair  addressed  the  House  at 
some  length  in  support  of  the  bill,  showing  that  the 
Government  was  in  absolute  need  of  a  more  efficient 
force  for  the  protection  of  the  distant  Territories.  He 
made  a  clear  and  forcible  exposition  of  the  outrages 
of  the  Mormons  upon  the  "Gentile"  settlers  in  Utah; 
of  their  bitter  and  rebellious  hostility  to  the  Constitu 
tion  and  laws  of  the  Union  ;  and  of  the  audacity  with 
which  they  assumed  to  dictate  terms  to  the  Govern 
ment,  He  said,  in  conclusion : 

"Now,  Mr.  Speaker.  I  think  it  is  due  to  the  exi 
gency  that  we  should  at  least  place  these  troops  at  the 
disposal  of  the  President,  so  that  if  there  should  arise 
any  emergency  in  Utah,  requiring  the  troops,  he  may 
have  them.  *  *  * 

"  I  know  of  no  difficulty — none  at  all — on  the 
subject  of  the  power  of  the  President  to  move  the 
Army  into  the  Territories  of  this  Government.  Nor 
have  I  difficulties  about  the  power  of  this  Government 
over  the  Territories ;  and  I  trust  that  if  no  other  good 


SPEECH  ON  THE  VOLUNTEER  BILL.        319 

thing  comes  out  of  this  unfortunate  affair — so  to  char 
acterize  it — it  will  give  the  last  and  fatal  blow  to  that 
heresy  of  Squatter  Sovereignty  that  has  grown  up  in 
this  land.  I  am  one  of  those  who  believe  as  strongly 
in  the  doctrine  of  popular  sovereignty  as  any  man  on 
this  floor ;  but  it  is  the  sovereignty  of  the  whole  people 
of  the  country  in  regard  to  their  Territories.  It  is  the 
right  of  the  people  of  the  country  to  govern  what 
belongs  to  them ;  and  I  say  it  is  rank  cowardice  to 
abdicate  a  power  conferred  on  Congress  by  the  Con 
stitution,  to  shirk  it  off  upon  the  first  two  or  three 
hundred  individuals  that  may  reach  a  Territory  to  be 
organized  by  this  Government.  *  *  *  * 

"I  shall  therefore  vote  for  the  bill  to  place  five  reg 
iments  of  volunteers  at  the  disposal  of  the  President, 
but  I  will  not,  under  any  consideration,  vote  to  add  a 
single  man  to  the  Regular  Army." 

On  the  23d  of  March,  1858,  Mr.  Blair  addressed 
the  House  in  opposition  to  the  Lecompton  Constitu 
tion  of  Kansas,  and  in  behalf  of  free  labor  in  that 
Territory.  His  speech  was  able  and  forcible,  and  at 
tracted  considerable  attention  at  the  time.  Near  the 
close  of  his  remarks,  he  said  : 

uThe  oligarchy  say  they  have  the  right  to  take  their 
Slaves  into  the  Territories  of  the  Union.  *  *  They 
demand  that  they  shall  be  allowed  to  put  their  slaves 
to  work 'side  by  side  with  mechanics  and  laborers,  and, 
in  the  same  breath,  they  claim  that  no  slave  shall  be 
allowed  to  degrade  the  employments  in  which  they 
condescend  to  engage.  I  contend  that  they  have  no 
more  right  to  inflict  this  degradation  on  mechanics,  by 


320  LIFE    OF   FRANCIS    P.  BLAIR,  JR. 

placing  slave  labor  in  competition  with  their  free  labor. 
Not  a  whit  more ;  and,  as  they  exercise  the  right  of 
excluding  slaves  from  the  professions  in  which  they 
are  themselves  engaged,  (as  they  do  by  inhibiting 
their  education,)  I  say  they  admit  the  right  of  others 
to  exclude  them  from  the  mechanical  trades,  and  from 
competition  with  every  freeman  who  follows  an  honest 
calling. 

"  There  was  a  time  when  this  Democratic  party 
was  not  Democratic  in  name  alone.  There  was  a  time 
when  this  party  took  ground  against  privileged  classes, 
and  against  every  attempt  on  the  part  of  Capitalists  to 
usurp  the  power  of  this  Government,  and  pervert  it  to 
their  own  purposes.  I  instance  the  case  of  the  United 
States  Bank,  where  the  Stockholders  undertook  to 
force  this  Government  to  allow  them  to  bank  on  the 
national  revenue,  the  Democratic  party  took  issue  with 
them,  and  put  them  down.  Since  that  time  we  have 
had  the  tariff  discussion,  where  the  manufacturing  in 
terests  of  the  country — a  vast  aggregation  of  wealth — 
undertook  to  influence  legislation,  and  effect  the  pass 
age  of  laws  for  their  especial  benefit,  in  derogation  of 
the  rights  and  interests  of  the  working  classes  of  the 
country,  the  Democratic  party  took  ground  against  the 
high  protective  tariff,  and  defeated  it. 

"  And  now  here  is  another  question  in  which  this 
struggle  between  capital  and  labor  is  presented  in  its 
most  odious  and  revolting  form.  Here  is  a  colossal 
aggregation  of  wealth  invested  in  negroes,  which  un 
dertakes  to  seize  this  Government  to  pervert  it  to  its 
own  purpose,  and  to  prevent  the  freemen  of  the  coun- 


SPEECH    ON    KANSAS    AFFAIRS.  321 

try  from  entering  the  Territories  except  in  competition 
with  slave  labor ;  and  the  Democratic  party,  instead 
of  standing  where  it  used  to  stand,  in  opposition  to 
these  Anti-Democratic  measures,  is  as  servile  a  tool  of 
the  oligarchy  as  are  the  negro  slaves  themselves. 

"  This  is  no  question  between  North  and  South. 
It  is  a  question  between  those  who  contend  for  caste 
and  privilege,  and  those  who  neither  have  nor  desire 
to  have,  privileges  beyond  their  fellows.  It  is  the  old 
question  that  has  always  in  all  free  countries,  subsisted 
— the  question  of  the  wealthy  and  the  crafty  few  en 
deavoring  to  steal  from  the  masses  of  the  people  all 
the  political  power  of  the  Government.  These  gentle 
men  are  wrong  who  say  that  it  is  a  question  of  North 
and  South.  If  there  is  one  class  of  people  on  this 
Continent  more  interested  than  another  in  putting  a 
stop  to  the  extension  of  slavery  in  the  Territories,  it  is 
the  free  white  laborers  of  the  South.  They  have  in 
finitely  more  interest  in  the  matter  than  any  other 
class  of  the  people,  because  they  have  felt  the  pressure 
of  the  institution.  They  have  been  shut  out  from  all 
ownership  in  the  soil,  and  driven  out  of  all  employment 
in  the  States  where  Slavery  now  exists ;  and  should 
we  allow  the  Territories  of  the  Government  to  be 
closed  against  them,  they  will  have  no  escape  from  the 
oppression  which  has  ground  them  to  the  dust.  No, 
Sir,  it  is  not  a  question  between  the  North  and  South. 
It  is  a  question  which  commends  itself  especially  to 
the  non-slaveholding  and  laboring  white  men  of  the 
South. 

"Now,  Sir,  this  controversy  will,  in  my  opinion, 

21 


322  LIFE    OF   FRANCIS    P.  BLAIR,  JR. 

end  in  great  good.  In  the  struggle  which  terminated 
the  American  Revolution,  the  principles  of  liberty 
were  so  deeply  instilled  in  the  heart  of  the  people,  that 
when  that  struggle  ended,  the  slaves  were  emancipated 
in  a  large  number  of  the  States,  from  the  impulse 
which  the  love  of  liberty  received  in  that  contest. 
This  struggle,  which  is  on  the  same  principle,  will 
terminate  in  the  same  way.  I  know  that  there  are  as 
good  men  in  the  South  now  as  there  were  in  the  days 
of  the  Revolution.  There  are  men — slaveholders — 
now  there  who  burn  to  emulate  the  noble  examples  of 
the  illustrious  men  of  the  Revolution  ;  and  the  noble 
State  which  I  have  the  honor,  in  part,  to  represent  on 
this  floor,  will,  in  my  opinion,  have  the  glory  of  lead 
ing  the  way  in  this  magnanimous  career.  Her  honor 
and  interest  alike  beckon  her,  and  that  she  will  not  be 
insensible  to  these  high  motives,  nor  regardless  of  the 
glorious  destiny  which  awaits  her,  the  legend  which 
she  bears  upon  her  shield,  '  Solus  populi  supremo,  lex 
estoj  sufficiently  attests." 

The  scheme  for  the  construction  of  a  railroad  from 
the  Missouri  to  the  Paciiic  found  an  early  and  true 
friend  in  him.  His  knowledge  of  the  West  taught 
him  that  such  a  system  of  communication  was  the  only 
means  of  building  up  the  great  West,  and  maintaining 
the  influence  and  power  of  the  Government  over  the 
Paciiic  Coast.  He  also  gave  his  support  to  the  mea 
sures  looking  to  the  establishment  of  the  "  Overland 
Mail  "  route,  using  his  influence  in  favor  of  it,  both  in 
public  and  private.  On  the  25th  of  May,  1858,  he 
addressed  the  House  in  favor  of  the  Pacific  Railroad 


REELECTION    TO    CONGRESS.  323 

bill,  arguing  in  behalf  of  the  central  route,  which  he 
deemed  the  most  practicable.  His  speech  was  a  clear 
statement  of  the  scheme,  and  of  the  necessity  for,  and 
advantages  of,  the  proposed  system  of  communication 
with  the  Pacific.  He  was  listened  to  with  marked  at 
tention,  and  made  a  decided  impression  upon  his 
hearers. 

Mr.  Blair  was  regularly  returned  to  Congress  in 
1858  and  I860,  and  during  the  memorable  sessions  of 
the  Thirty-Sixth  Congress  maintained  the  reputation 
won  by  him  during  his  first  session. 


CHAPTEK  II. 

Reelected  to  Congress  in  1860 — Advocates  the  Election  of  Mr.  Lincoln — 
The  Secession  Troubles — Mr.  Blair  takes  his  Position  as  a  Union 
Man — The  "War — He  is  the  First  Union  Volunteer— Condition  of 
Affairs  in  Missouri — Services  of  Mr.  Blair — He  Raises  Troops  in  St. 
Louis — Assists  Capt.  Lyon — Removal  of  the  Arms  from  the  Arsenal 
— Capture  of  Camp  Jackson — Interview  with  Governor  Jackson — 
The  Capture  of  Jefferson  City — Battle  of  Booneville— Gallant  Con 
duct  of  Colonel  Blair — He  Leaves  for  Washington — Effect  of  his 
Absence — Meeting  of  Congress  in  July,  1861 — Colonel  Blair  declines 
the  Speakersliip— Is  made  Chairman  of  the  Military  Committee- 
Procures  tne  expulsion  of  Mr.  Clark—Speech  on  the  Battle  of  Bull 
Eun — Defence  of  the  President— Returns  to  Missouri— Quarrel  with 
General  Fremont. 

IN  1860  Mr.  Blair  contested  the  seat  of  Mr.  Barrett, 
from  the  St.  Louis  district. 

He  was  successful  in  this  effort,  after  which  he 
resigned  his  seat.  An  election  was  held  in  the  summer 
of  1860,  to  fill  the  vacancy,  at  which  Mr.  Blair,  through 
an  unfairness  in  counting  the  vote,  was  defeated.  This 
election  was  to  fill  the  vacancy  in  the  un expired  term. 
Mr.  Blair  was  a  candidate  again  at  the  regular  election 
in  November,  and  was  elected  by  a  large  majority. 

The  Republican  party  had  nominated  Mr.  Lincoln 
for  the  Presidency,  and  in  the  canvass  of  1860,  Mr. 
Blair  warmly  supported  this  nomination.  This  party 
in  Missouri  did  not  number  over  twenty  thousand  men, 
but  it  had  the  advantage  of  being  determined  in  its 
efforts,  compact,  and  perfectly  harmonious.  It  was 


POSITION    OF    MR.  BLAIR.  325 

thoroughly  hated  by  the  Southern  men  of  the  State, 
arid  won  its  advantages  only  by  the  most  energetic 
and  persistent  efforts. 

"The  leading  spirit  and  chief  adviser  of  the  Re 
publicans  in  1860  and  1861,"  says  Col.  Peckham,  in 
his  valuable  biography  of  Gen.  Lyon,  "was  FRANK 
PRESTON  BLAIR,  JR.,  who,  in  the  canvass  of  1856,  had 
whispered  the  magic  word  EMANCIPATION.  No  history 
of  Missouri  in  the  momentous  crisis  of  1861  can  pos 
sibly  be  complete  without  having  that  name  stamped 
upon  its  pages  in  characters  of  splendid  coloring. 
Himself  a  Southerner,  and  a  slaveholder,  the  stereo 
typed  cry  of  i  Yankee  prejudice,1  '  New  England  edu 
cation,'  and  'negro  equality'  could  not  be  raised 
against  him  in  efforts  to  intensify  passion  and  excite 
hate.  His  own  personal  courage  and  coolness  silenced 
the  pretensions  of  the  insolent,  and  forced  opponents 
from  the  employment  of  abuse  into  the  arena  of  debate^ 
and  there,  before  his  exhaustive  arguments  and  array 
of  facts,  the  mailed  squires  of  slavery  were  speedily 
unhorsed.  Even  in  his  personal  intercourse  with  op 
posing  partisans,  in  whose  breasts  were  lurking  the 
twin-passions  of  hate  and  fear,  he  exhibited  not  only 
the  courteousness  of  an  affable  gentleman,  but  an 
equanimity  of  temperament  and  apparent  forgetfulness 
really  wonderful.  The  antagonist  who  expected  at  the 
first  meeting  a  rupture,  because  of  bitter  attacks  made 
upon  Mr.  Blair  in  recent  speeches,  was  surprised,  in 
passing,  at  the  placid  countenance  and  nonchalance  of 
manner  of  his  political  foe.  This  power  over  self,  made 
Mr.  Blair  powerful  with  others.  Serving  a  great  cause 


32 C  LIFE    OF   FRANCIS    P.  BLAIR,  JR. 

in  the  interests  of  humanity,  warring  against  an  insti 
tution  deep-seated  in  the  hearts  and  purposes  of  a 
powerful  class,  he  knew  exactly  the  work  before  him, 
and  the  depths  he  would  necessarily  stir  into  fermen 
tation.  He  made  it  his  purpose  to  disregard  passion, 
to  answer  declamation  with  argument,  and  to  act  in 
self-defence  against  ruffianly  attacks.  His  example 
was  infused  into  his  partisans.  The  effect  was  visible 
in  the  rapidly  increasing  growth  of  the  Republican 
brotherhood  and  the  permanent  radiancy  of  the  Re 
publican  idea."  * 

Mr.  Blair  spoke  frequently  in  various  parts  of 
Missouri  in  behalf  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  his  speeches  being 
justly  considered  the  ablest  and  most  forcible  delivered 
in  the  State.  His  ability  and  earnestness  drew  upon 
him  from  the  first  the  hostility  of  the  pro-Slavery  men, 
and  he  was  frequently  interrupted  in  his  speeches,  and 
the  meetings  he  addressed  broken  up  by  mobs  sympa 
thizing  with  the  opposition.  In  order  to  put  a  stop 
to  such  demonstrations,  the  Republicans  organized 
clubs  of  "  Wide  Awakes,"  whose  duty  it  was  to  pre 
serve  order  at  their  public  meetings  and  protect  the 
speaker.  Detachments  of  these  clubs  sometimes  ac- 


*The  author  is  indebted  to  Col.  Peckhnm  for  the  assistance  kindly 
furnished  by  him.  His  General  Nathaniel  Lyon  and  Missouri  in  1861, 
has  been  the  guide  and  authority  for  the  statements  of  this  narrative 
concerning  Gen.  Blair's  services  in  Missouri,  and  the  reader  is  referred 
to  that  valuable  work  for  a  more  perfect  account  of  those  services. 

The  author's  thanks  are  especially  due  to  Major  Arden  R.  Smith,  of 
St.  Louis,  private  secretary  to  Gen.  Bluir,  for  much  valuable  information 
furnished  him,  which  has  contributed  in  no  slight  degree  to  the  task  of 
preparing  this  work. 


THE    SECESSION    TROUBLES.  327 

cornpanied  Mr.  Blair  in  his  visits  to  the  interior,  and 
compelled  his  opponents  to  let  him  speak  without  mo 
lestation. 

Mr.  Lincoln  having  been  elected  to  the  Presidency 
in  November,  1860,  his  election  was  made  the  occasion 
of  a  withdrawal  of  the  Southern  States  from  the  Union. 
It  is  not  iny  purpose  to  discuss  the  secession  troubles, 
or  the  causes  which  led  to  them — the  reader  being 
familiar  with  them — but  simply  to  relate  that  portion 
of  them  with  which  the  subject  of  this  memoir  was 
associated. 

The  Missouri  Legislature  met  on  the  31st  of  De 
cember,  1860.  Political  feeling  ran  very  high  at  the 
time,  and  it  was  found  upon  the  assembling  of  the 
Legislature,  that  a  majority  of  that  body  were  undis 
guised  friends  of  the  South.  The  Governor  and  Lieu 
tenant-Govern  or,  and  two-thirds  of  the  State  officers 
were  Southern  sympathizers,  and  the  Union  men  con 
cerned  in  the  government  of  the  Commonwealth  were 
in  a  decided  minority.  Conscious  of  their  power,  the 
Secessionists  in  the  two  Houses  of  the  Legislature 
prepared  a  series  of  measures  for  placing  themselves 
in  unlimited  control  of  the  State,  for  the  purpose  of 
uniting  the  destinies  of  Missouri  with  those  of  the 
South  in  case  of  a  war  between  the  two  sections. 

"  The  only  real  friends  " — says  Colonel  Peckham, 
"  those  who  were  known  as  unconditionally  such — of 
the  Union,  in  St.  Louis,  in  January,  1861,  were  the 
Republicans.  They  were  called  Blair-men,  and  the 
party  hate  of  years  was  still  cherished  for  their  leader. 
It  required  the  utmost  prudence  arid  skilful  manage- 


328  LIFE    OF   FRANCIS    P.  BLAIR,  JR. 

ment  on  the  part  of  Mr.  Blair  to  break  down  this 
prejudice  in  the  minds  of  many  and  induce  them  to 
cooperate  with  him  in  patriotic  effort.  This  he  suc 
ceeded  in  doing  to  quite  an  extent,  and  prepared  the 
way  for  success  at  the  February  polls."  * 

In  view  of  the  strength  and  determination  mani 
fested  by  the  Secessionists,  Mr.  Blair,  who  was  by  com 
mon  consent  regarded  as  the  head  of  the  Union  party 
in  Missouri,  advised  his  friends  to  revive  the  u  Wide 
Awake  "  organizations  which  had  been  disbanded  after 
the  Presidential  election  in  1860.  This  advice  was 
promptly  acted  upon,  and  by  the  middle  of  January, 
1861,  the  "  Wide  Awakes"  were  formally  reorganized 
into  a  Union  club.  All  Union  men  were  invited  to 
join  this  club,  but  very  few  outside  the  Republican 
party  responded  to  the  invitation. 

There  were  many  persons  in  -Missouri,  as  elsewhere, 
who  believed  that  the  troubles  would  pass  by,  and  the 
country  return  to  its  old  condition  of  peace ;  but  Mr. 
Blair  was  not  among  the  number.  He  read  the  signs 
of  the  times  more  clearly,  and  his  judgment  convinced 
him  that  the  war  was  inevitable.  He  had  reliable 
information  that  the  Southern  men  of  the  State  were 
secretly  preparing  to  follow  the  example  of  the  people 
of  the  far  South,  and  he  knew  that  if  the  Union  men 
of  Missouri  would  keep  the  State  true  to  the  Union 
they  must  prepare  to  meet  force  with  force.  Though 
he  believed  the  Southern  leaders  to  be  misguided  and 
wrong  in  their  views  and  designs,  he  knew  them  to  be 
brave,  resolute,  and  capable,  and  this  knowledge 

*  Gen.  Nathaniel  Lyon  and  Missouri  in  1861,  p.  30. 


MR.  BLAIR    ORGANIZES   THE    UNIONISTS.  329 

caused  him  to  resolve  that  nothing  should  be  left  un 
done  to  baffle  them.  He  at  once  called  together  the 
most  influential  members  of  the  Union  party  in  St. 
Louis,  and  in  secret  meetings  explained  to  them  the 
necessity  for  prompt  action  on  their  part.  As  the 
Southern  men  were  organizing  and  arming  secretly,  he 
declared  the  Union  men  must  do  the  same.  After 
some  hesitation,  it  was  decided  to  act  upon  this  advice, 
and  a  military  organization  was  formed  and  prepara 
tions  made  for  a  secret  drill.  Mr.  Blair  undertook  to 
raise  the  first  company,  which  was  done  secretly  and 
promptly,  and  of  this  company  he  was  the  first  volun 
teer  and  was  elected  captain.  His  company  numbered 
seventy-three  men,  officers  included.  His  example 
was  at  once  followed  by  others,  and  in  a  short  time 
the  Union  force  of  St.  Louis,  thus  secretly  organized, 
numbered  eleven  companies.  In  order  to  have  a  com 
mon  head  for  this  organization,  Mr.  Blair  was  elected 
its  colonel ;  and  by  his  advice  a  Committee  of  Safety, 
consisting  of  five  of  the  leading  Republicans  of  the  city, 
was  appointed  to  look  after  the  interests  of  the  Union 
men  of  St.  Louis.  Besides  forming  the  military  force, 
the  Union  men  constituted  themselves  an  "inside  organ 
ization,"  of  which  Mr.  Blair  was  elected  President. 
The  military  force  was  for  active  service  in  case  of 
necessity ;  the  "  inside  organization  "  was  charged  with 
the  duty  of  controlling  that  force  and  providing  for 
whatever  emergency  might  arise.  The  meetings  and 
drills  were  conducted  with  the  utmost  secrecy,  in  order 
that  the  Secessionists  might  not  learn  of  them.  The 
floors  of  the  drill- rooms  were  strewn  with  sawdust  to 


330  LIFE    OF   FRANCIS    P.  BLAIR,  JR. 

deaden  the  tramp  of  the  men,  and  the  places  them 
selves  were  strongly  guarded  to  prevent  surprise.  Pass 
words  and  signs  by  which  members  could  know  each 
other  and  gain  access  to  their  meetings,  were  adopted; 
and  the  whole  system  carried  on  with  such  success  that 
it  was  not  even  suspected  by  the  uninitiated.  As  the 
time  passed  on,  the  organization  was  extended  by  the 
rapid  enlistment  of  new  members. 

The  organization  having  been  effected,  it  was  neces 
sary  to  provide  the  men  with  arms.  There  was  con 
siderable  difficulty  in  the  way  of  this,  as  the  purchase 
and  distribution  of  the  arms  would  have  to  be  made  in 
secret,  but  Mr.  Blair  resolved  that  the  effort  should  at 
least  be  made.  The  Southern  men  had  set  detectives 
to  watch  the  movements  of  the  Republicans,  and  it 
was  necessary  to  act  with  the  utmost  caution.  Mr.  Blair 
was  equal  to  the  emergency.  Communicating  his 
design  to  several  of  the  leading  Union  men  of  the  city, 
he  succeeded  in  raising  a  sum  of  money  sufficient  for 
arming  his  own  company  and  providing  it  with  a  sup 
ply  of  ammunition.  He  did  not  stop  here,  however.  He 
exerted  his  every  effort  to  increase  the  force  of  which  he 
was  a  member,  and  to  procure  arms  and  money.  He 
was  aided  by  energetic  Union  men  of  his  own  selec 
tion,  and  quiet  but  successful  appeals  were  made  in 
Missouri  and  elsewhere,  with  such  success  that  by  the 
last  of  February,  1861,  the  secret  Union  force  in  St. 
Louis  consisted  of  four  regiments,  armed  and  equip 
ped.  Money  was  contributed  liberally  by  citizens  of 
other  States  for  the  support  of  the  Union  cause  in 
Missouri,  and  at  length  a  fund  of  thirty  thousand  dol- 


PLANS    OF   THE    SECESSIONISTS.  331 

lars  was  raised  for  this  purpose.  These  results  were 
due  to  the  energy  and  fertility  of  resource  of  Mr. 
Blair,  who  conceived  the  plans  and  infused  a  part 
of  his  own  spirit  into  the  persons  appointed  to  carry 
them  out. 

Meanwhile  the  Secessionists  were  not  idle.  They 
had  formed  secret  associations  in  St.  Louis,  under 
the  leadership  of  Gen.  D.  M.  Frost,  the  commander 
of  the  militia  of  the  first  district,  a  brave  and  able 
officer,  and  could  rely  with  certainty  upon  the  co-op 
eration  of  the  State  authorities  in  the  event  of  a  col 
lision  with  the  Union  men.  Their  principal  object 
was  to  seize  the  United  States  arsenal  at  St.  Louis, 
and,  having  armed  their  partisans  with  the  weapons 
thus  secured,  to  take  possession  of  and  hold  the  city, 
which  they  justly  regarded  as  the  most  important 
strategic  point  in  the  South- West.  The  arsenal  was 
of  great  value,  and  its  stores  consisted  of  60,000  stand 
of  arms  of  the  best  and  latest  patterns,  1,500,000 
ball  cartridges,  a  number  of  cannon  of  all  sizes,  many 
valuable  machine  shops  with  their  full  equipments, 
and  an  ample  supply  of  all  kinds  of  munitions  of 
war  including  nearly  100,000  pounds  of  powder. 
This  valuable  property  was  in  charge  of  three  or  four 
officers,  about  twice  as  many  detailed  soldiers,  and 
the  unarmed  workmen  in  the  machine  shops  ;  in  other 
words,  it  was  defenceless.  Major  Bell,  the  officer  in 
command,  was  ready  at  any  moment  to  surrender 
the  post  to  the  State  authorities,  who  refrained  from 
seizing  it  merely  because  they  were  confident  of  their 
ability  to  do  so  at  any  moment.  Gen.  Frost  secretly 


332  LIFE    OF   FRANCIS    P.  BLAIR,  JR. 

made  his  preparations  to  take  the  arsenal,  and  as  a 
means  of  calling  his  men  together,  made  arrangements 
with  the  representative  of  the  Archbishop  of  St. 
Louis,  who  was  absent  from  the  city,  for  the  purpose 
of  sounding  his  signal  from  the  bells  of  the  Catholic 
churches  of  the  city.  He  communicated  this  arrange 
ment  to  his  subordinates  in  a  secret  circular,  which 
fell  into  the  hands  of  Mr.  Blair.  In  consequence  of 
this  discovery,  Messrs.  Filley  and  Foy,  friends  of  Mr. 
Blair — the  former  the  Mayor  of  the  city — called  upon 
Archbishop  Kendrick  and  asked  if  the  information 
they  had  gained  was  true.  The  Archbishop  replied 
that  it  was,  but  that  he  had  already  given  orders 
that  the  bells  of  his  churches  should  not  be  used 
for  any  such  purpose. 

Mr.  Blair  at  once  sent  the  circular  of  Gen.  Frost 
to  Gen.  Scott,  and  urged  him  to  transfer  the  command 
of  the  arsenal  from  Major  Bell  to  some  one  upon 
whom  the  Government  could  rely,  and  also  to  send 
troops  to  that  post  for  its  protection.  Gen.  Scott, 
about  the  last  of  January,  sent  a  detachment  of  troops 
to  the  arsenal,  and  issued  an  order  to  Major  Bell  to 
report  for  duty  at  the  headquarters  of  the  Department 
of  the  East.  Major  Bell  declined  to  obey  the  order 
on  account  of  his  large  property  interests  in  St.  Louis, 
and  tendered  his  resignation,  which  was  accepted. 
Major  Hagner  was  then  placed  in  command  of  the 
arsenal. 

Early  in  January,  the  force  at  Jefferson  Barracks, 
near  the  city,  was  increased.  On  the  llth,  the  United 
States  funds  at  the  Custom  House  were  removed,  un- 


WISE    MEASURES    OF    MR.  BLAIR.  333 

der  the  protection  of  a  strong  guard,  from  the  arsenal. 
These  events  created  great  indignation  among  the 
Southern  men  of  St.  Louis. 

Meanwhile,  Mr.  Blair  labored  earnestly  to  bring 
all  the  friends  of  the  Union  into  one  party.  He  was 
willing  to  make  any  honorable  concession  to  effect  this, 
and  urged  his  friends  to  drop  the  title  of  "  Republi 
cans,11  and  call  themselves  Union  men,  in  order  that 
the  old  party  isms  of  the  past  might  not  defeat  the  end 
he  had  in  view.  His  efforts  were  not  successful,  how 
ever.  The  men  who  had  been  his  political  foes  for 
years,  and  who  were  really  true  to  the  Union,  could 
not  forget  their  old  party  prejudices ;  and,  while  they 
desired  the  preservation  of  the  Union,  did  not  wish  to 
follow  in  the  lead  of  the  man  who  had  dealt  them  such 
hard  blows  in  old  times.  Mr.  Blair  was  not  discour 
aged.  He  had  resolved  that  Missouri  should  be  saved 
to  the  Union,  and  he  felt  himself  competent  to  effect 
this.  The  Union  men  had  unanimously  chosen  him 
their  leader,  and  it  was  fortunate  for  them  that  their 
choice  was  so  wisely  made. 

"  The  most  admirable  of  all  the  personal  incidents 
of  that  time  was  the  perfect  confidence  and  trust  re 
posed  in  each  other  by  individual  Republicans,  and 
the  supreme  reliance  placed  in  their  leader.  Between 
Mr.  Blair  and  others  of  prominence  in  the  party  (men 
of  great  abilities  and  solid  judgment  as  well),  there 
existed  the  most  thorough  personal  sympathy  and  har 
mony.  Indeed,  it  was  no  time  to  cater  to  ambition. 
The  positive  character,  untiring  energy,  and  undaunted 
courage  of  Mr.  Blair,  capacitated  him  for  leadership  in 


334  LIFE    OF   FRANCIS    P.  BLAIR,  JR. 

such  a  crisis.  His  fertile  brain  devised  every  expe 
dient,  his  indomitable  will  carried  ^out  every  plan. 
While  the  rebels  threatened,  they  found  the  work  of  a 
master  on  every  hand.  In  activity  and  vigilance,  he 
was  more  than  a  match  for  the  whole  batch  of  con 
spirators.  In  council  with  his  co-laborers,  he  accepted 
their  suggestions,  strengthened  their  plans,  discouraged 
contentious  debate,  when  indulged  in  by  some  young 
and  unthinking  friends,  by  mild  remark  or  gentle  re 
proof,  and  rendered  strict  homage  to  age  and  ability. 
No  spirit  of  jealousy,  no  desire  for  notoriety,  interfered 
with  his  authority,  and  no  personal  ambition  prompted 
him  to  encounter  popular  prejudice."  * 

As  we  have  said,  Mr.  Blair  was  very  anxious  to 
draw  into  one  organization  all  the  friends  of  the 
Union.  The  Legislature  of  the  State  had  called  a 
Convention  to  consider  the  troubles  which  were  agita 
ting  the  country,  and  both  parties  were  desirous  of 
gaining  the  control  of  that  body.  The  Republican 
party,  as  a  general  rule,  were  in  favor  of  putting  forth 
a  simple  Republican  ticket,  but  Mr.  Blair  and  a  few 
others  opposed  the  idea.  He  said  he  was  very  anx 
ious  to  secure  the  aid  of  the  State  generally  in  behalf 
of  the  Union  men,  but  he  feared  the  prejudice  against 
the  Republican  party  was  so  strong  in  the  State, 
that  numbers  of  good  Union  men  would  refuse  to 
support  a  Republican  ticket,  no  matter  who  were 
the  candidates.  He  was  for  nominating  an  uncondi 
tional  Union  ticket,  the  candidates  to  be  taken  from 
all  parties.  He  met  with  considerable  opposition. 

*  Col.  Peckham. 


UNCONDITIONAL   UNIONISM.  335 

One  of  his  friends,  an  ardent  Republican,  said  he  did 
not  believe  in  breaking  up  the  Republican  party  under 
any  circumstances.  "Let  us  have  a  COUNTRY  first," 
responded  Blair,  "  and  then  we  can  talk  about  par 


ties."  * 


He  worked  unceasingly  to  accomplish  the  end  he 
had  in  view,  and  at  length  succeeded  in  procuring,  by 
a  meeting  of  the  unconditional  Union  men  of  all  parties, 
the  nomination  of  a  ticket  for  candidates  for  the  Con 
vention  from  the  City  of  St.  Louis.  Of  these  candi 
dates  three  were  Douglas  Democrats,  seven  Bell-Everett 
men,  and  four  Republicans.  At  the  meeting  which 
nominated  these  gentlemen,  Mr.  Blair  made  a  speech 
of  great  power  and  eloquence.  He  said  he  did  not 
care  what  party  the  candidates  belonged  to.  He  wanted 
a  new  party  —  an  unconditional  Union  party  —  which 
would  remain  faithful  to  the  Union  under  any  circum 
stances,  and  that  he  should  support  the  ticket  nomi 
nated.  He  said  he  meant  to  remain  in  the  Union 
whether  the  State  went  out  or  not,  and  that  he  meant 
to  remain  in  St.  Louis,  too.  If  Missouri  seceded  from 
the  Union,  he  wanted  St.  Louis  to  secede  from  Mis 
souri.  The  city  must  be  saved  to  the  Union  under 
any  circumstances.  It  was  no  time  to  talk  about  party, 
but  it  was  the  duty  of  all  good  men  to  forget  all  party 
considerations  in  their  devotion  to  their  common 
country. 

The  elections  for  the  Convention  were  held  on  the 
18th  of  February,  and  Mr.  Blair  had  the  satisfaction 
of  seeing  the  ticket  for  which  he  had  labored,  elected. 

*  Col.  Peckham. 


336  LIFE    OF   FRANCIS    P.  BLAIR,  JR. 

The  Union  ticket  throughout  the  State  was  successful 
by  about  80,000  majority. 

The  month  of  January,  1861,  witnessed  great  ac 
tivity  on  the  part  of  the  Union  men  of  Missouri.  The 
secret  organizations  were  rapidly  pushed  forward  to  an 
effective  footing,  and  spies  were  employed  to  watch 
and  report  the  movements  of  the  Secessionists.  A 
strict  watch  was  kept  over  the  arsenal,  the  Union  men 
holding  themselves  in  readiness  to  march  to  its  aid  at 
any  moment.  Lieutenant  Sweeney,  of  the  regular 
army,  had  been  placed  in  charge  of  the  troops  at  that 
post,  and  he  had  avowed  his  determination  to  blow 
up  the  building  rather  than  yield  it  to  any  one.  Let 
ters  poured  in  upon  Mr.  Blair  from  all  parts  of  the 
State,  from  Union  men  asking  for  advice,  aid,  and  com 
fort,  and  his  private  secretary  was  kept  busy  replying 
to  them.  The  cause  of  secession  seemed  prosperous  in 
all  parts  of  the  State. 

On  the  6th  of  February  a  company  of  eighty  en 
listed  men  of  the  regular  army  reached  the  St.  Louis 
arsenal  from  Fort  Riley.  The  officer  in  charge  of  this 
force  succeeded,  by  virtue  of  his  rank,  to  the  command 
of  all  the  troops  at  the  arsenal.  He  was  Captain 
Nathaniel  Lyon,  a  distinguished  officer  of  the  regular 
army,  and  it  was  not  long  before  it  came  to  be  under 
stood  that  he  was  just  the  man  for  whom  the  Union 
men  of  St.  Louis  had  been  wishing  so  long. 

"  Upon  his  arrival  in  St.  Louis,  Captain  Lyon  at 
once  called  upon  Mr.  Blair,  and  from  him  learned  the 
exact  condition  of  affairs,  both  in  the  city  and  through 
out  the  State.  Thus  between  these  two  men  was  formed 


BLAIR    AND    LYON.  337 

an  intimacy  which  speedily  ripened  into  the  warmest 
friendship  and  the  most  profound  mutual  respect  and 
confidence.  As  the  plot  thickened,  and  the  changing 
days  developed  new  conditions,  Blair  was  the  trusted, 
confidential  adviser,  sought  for  in  every  instance,  and 
in  every  instance  upholding  and  sustaining.  This 
confidence,  this  reliance,  this  friendship  was  never 
weakened  by  the  clashing  of  opposing  opinions,  or  by 
the  selfishness  which  generally  obtains  in  men  flattered 
by  official  position  and  power.'1  * 

Captain  Lyon  was  introduced  to  the  leading  Union 
men  of  the  city,  and  made  acquainted  with  all  their 
movements.  He  visited  the  armories  and  secret  drills 
of  the  Union  guards,  and  frequently  aided  in  instruct 
ing  the  men  and  establishing  the  necessary  discipline. 
He  at  once  set  to  work  to  put  in  force  measures  for  the 
defence  of  the  arsenal,  but  found  himself  greatly  hin 
dered  by  the  conduct  of  Major  Hagner,  who  threw 
every  obstacle  in  his  way.  Indeed,  so  studied  was 
Hagner's  course  that  Lyon  could  not  doubt  that  he 
was  secretly  in  favor  of  giving  up  the  arsenal  to  the 
Secessionists. 

In  order  to  remove  this  fatal  opposition  on  the  part 
of  Major  Hagner,  Mr.  Blair  wrote  repeatedly  to  Wash 
ington,  laying  the  case  before  the  Government,  but 
failing  to  get  a  prompt  response  to  his  letters,  he  con 
cluded  to  see  the  President  in  person,  arid  accordingly 
set  out  at  once  for  Washington,  stopping  at  Spring 
field,  Illinois,  to  see  Mr.  Lincoln,  the  President  elect, 

*  Gen.  Nathaniel  Lyon  and  Missouri  in  1861.     By  Lt.  Col.  James 
Peckham.     P.  58. 
22 


338  LIFE    OF   FEANCIS    P.  BLAIR,  JR. 

to  whom  he  explained  the  situation  and  plans  of  the 
Union  men  of  Missouri.  He  failed  to  accomplish  any 
thing  during  Mr.  Buchanan's  administration,  but  after 
the  inauguration  of  Mr.  Lincoln  procured  an  order 
from  the  War  Department  placing  Captain  Lyon  in 
command  of  the  defences  of  the  arsenal.  This  order 
was  at  once  sent  to  Gen.  Harney,  the  commander  of 
the  Department,  and  reached  him  about  the  middle  of 
March.  Harney  interpreted  it  literally,  and  placed 
Lyon  in  command  of  the  troops  and  defences  of  the 
post,  but  left  Hagner  in  charge  of  the  arsenal.  This 
made  matters  really  very  little  better,  as  Hagner  still 
had  the  power  to  thwart  all  of  Lyon's  measures  for 
resisting  an  attack  upon  the  arsenal.  About  the 
same  time  Captain  Lyon  was  ordered  to  go  to  Fort 
Leavenworth  on  court  martial  duty,  but  this  order 
was  revoked  by  Gen.  Scott  as  soon  as  he  learned  the 
true  state  of  the  case.  Lyon,  in  spite  of  the  obstacles 
before  him,  fortified  the  arsenal  as  well  as  the  means 
at  his  command  would  permit,  and  posted  sentinels  at 
all  its  entrances  with  orders  to  refuse  admittance  to  all 
persons  "not  connected  with  the  post.  He  assured  a 
committee  of  Union  men  who  called  upon  him  to  warn 
him  of  a  rumored  attack  upon  him,  that  he  would 
defend  the  post  to  the  last ;  that  if  he  found  Hagner 
attempting  to  play  into  the  hands  of  the  Secessionists, 
he  would  throw  him  into  the  river ;  and  that  if  the 
Union  men  of  the  city  were  attacked  he  would  take 
the  responsibility  of  arming  them  from  the  arsenal. 

In  the  excited  condition  of  feeling  in  Missouri  at 
this  time,  it  was  very  difficult  to  prevent  a  collision 


MR.  BLAIR    RETURNS    HOME.  339 

between  the  Union  men  and  Secessionists.  Mr.  Blair 
exerted  himself  on  all  occasions  to  prevent  an  out 
break.  He  urged  his  friends  to  submit  to  any  thing 
rather  than  bring  on  a  conflict.  He  was  influenced  by 
no  hatred  of  his  political  foes ;  his  motives  were  high 
and  pure  ;  and  he  believed  his  cause  too  sacred  to  be 
sullied  by  violence.  His  influence  triumphed,  and  in 
spite  of  the  unusual  excitement,  there  was  no  blood 
shed. 

Mr.  Blair  returned  from  Washington  on  the  17th 
of  April,  after  the  fall  of  Fort  Sumter.  On  the  day 
of  his  arrival,  the  Governor  of  the  State  replied  to 
President  Lincoln's  call  for  troops,  refusing  to  furnish 
the  aid  asked  for.  Mr.  Blair  denounced  this  act  in  un 
measured  terms,  and  "  telegraphed  at  once  to  Washing 
ton,  offering  to  raise  immediately  four  regiments  for 
active  duty,  and  urging  their  acceptance  and  the  ap 
pointment  of  an  officer  to  muster  them  into  the  service. 
That  there  might  be  no  failure  in  securing  the  atten 
tion  of  the  Government  to  this  matter,  as  well  as  to 
the  general  wants  of  the  loyalists  of  Missouri,  Captain 
Barton  Able  visited  Washington  City  for  the  purpose 
of  representing  Missouri  affairs  to  the  President  and 
Cabinet.  Mr.  Blair  also  advised  those  officers  of  the 
militia  who  called  upon  him  and  announced  their  desire 
to  identify  themselves  with  the  Union,  to  withdraw  from 
the  Jackson  militia  at-  once.  He  also  advised  the  im 
mediate  recruiting  of  companies,  and  inspired  confi 
dence  of  their  speedy  muster.  It  is  true,  and  injustice 
should  be  said,  that  Mr.  Blair  at  that  day  was  himself 
a  host.  Wherever  loyal  men  met  in  council  he  was 


340  LIFE    OF   FRANCIS    P.  BLAIR,  JR. 

there  ;  whenever  loyal  men  received  the  word  of  com 
mand  it  was  from  him."* 

On  the  20th  of  April  the  Western  Arsenal  of  the 
United  States,  at  Liberty,  Missouri,  was  seized  by  the 
State  authorities.  This  was  at  once  reported  to  Capt 
Lyon,  who  was  also  warned  that  the  command  of  Gen. 
Frost  w^as  contemplating  an  attack  upon  the  St.  Louis 
Arsenal.  He  made  his  arrangements  to  defend  the 
post,  and  the  Union  men  of  St.  Louis  prepared  to 
march  to  his  assistance  at  the  first  signal  of  danger. 

On  the  21st  of  April,  Mr.  Blair  received  a  despatch 
from  Washington  accepting  the  four  regiments  he  had 
offered.  On  the  same  day  Captain  Lyon  informed 
him  that  Lieutenant  (now  Major-General)  Schofield 
was  in  St.  Louis  with  authority  to  muster  volunteers 
into  the  service.  Mr.  Blair  at  once  sought  an  inter 
view  with  Lieut.  Schofield,  who  informed  him  that  he 
was  ready  to  muster  in  the  four  regiments.  Schofield 
then  proceeded  to  the  arsenal  for  the  purpose  of  re 
ceiving  the  recruits,  but,  arriving  there,  found  himself 
stopped  by  orders  from  General  Harney,  prohibiting 
the  entrance  of  volunteers  into  the  arsenal,  and  also 
their  subsistence  and  arming.  He  returned  to  Mr. 
Blair  with  this  report,  and  the  two  at  once  called  upon 
Gen.  Harney  and  urged  him  to  countermand  his  order, 
but  he  refused  to  do  so.  Mr.  Blair  then  returned 
home,  and  sending  for  a  telegraph  operator,  Mr. 
Lucien  Barnes,  upon  whose  fidelity  and  discretion  he 
knew  he  could  rely,  sent  the  following  telegram  to  the 
Governor  of  Pennsylvania : 

*  Gen.  Nathaniel  Lyon  and  Missouri  in  1861,  p.  103. 


ENERGETIC  MEASURES.  341 

ST.  Louis,  April  21,  1861. 

"  Governor  A.  G.  CURTIN,  Harrisburg,  Pennsylvania : 
u  An  officer  of  the  army  here,  has  received  an  order 
to  muster  in  Missouri  regiments.  General  Harney  re 
fuses  to  let  them  remain  in  the  arsenal  grounds  or 
permit  them  to  be  armed.  I  wish  these  facts  to  be 
communicated  to  the  Secretary  of  War  by  special 
messenger,  and  instructions  sent  immediately  to  Har- 
riey  to  receive  the  troops  at  the  arsenal,  and  arm 
them.  Our  friends  distrust  Harney  very  much.  He 
should  be  superseded  immediately  by  putting  another 
commander  in  this  district.  The  object  of  the  Seces 
sionists  is  to  seize  the  arsenal  here,  with  its  seventy- 
five  thousand  stand  of  arms,  and  he  refuses  the  means 
of  defending  it.  We  have  plenty  of  men  but  no  arms. 

u  FRANK  P.  BLAIR,  Jr." 

While  in  Washington,  Mr.  Blair  had  procured 
from  the  War  Department  an  order  to  Capt.  Lyon  to 
issue  five  thousand  stand  of  arms  from  the  arsenal  to 
the  Union  men,  in  case  it  became  necessary  to  defend 
the  arsenal  or  to  resort  to  force  to  protect  their  lives. 
Two  days  previous  to  the  occurrence  related  above, 
Mr.  Blair,  finding  that  Harney  would  not  allow  the 
execution  of  the  order,  despatched  his  friend,  Dr. 
Hazlett,  to  Washington  with  the  following  letter  to 
his  brother,  the  Postmaster-General: 

UST.  Louis,  AprillS,  1861. 

"  DEAR  JUDGE  :  Dr.  Hazlett  will  hand  you  this 
letter.  He  goes  to  Washington  for  the  purpose  of 


342  LIFE    OF   FRANCIS   P.  BLAIR,  JR. 

urging  the  removal  of  General  Harney  from  this  post, 
and  giving  us  some  one  to  command  who  will  not  ob 
struct  the  orders  of  Government  intended  for  our  as 
sistance.  Harney  has  issued  orders,  at  the  instance 
of  the  Secessionists,  refusing  to  allow  us  to  have  the 
guns  which  the  Government  had  ordered  to  be  given 
to  us.  We  also  want  an  order  to  Captain  Lyoii  to 
swear  in  the  four  regiments  assigned  to  Missouri.  I 
have  already  written  and  telegraphed  to  this  effect ; 
but  in  these  days  we  do  not  know  what  to  rely  upon, 
and  therefore  we  have  deemed  it  advisable  to  send  a 
special  messenger.  If  you  will  send  General  Wool, 
or  some  one  who  is  not  to  be  doubted,  to  take  com 
mand  in  this  district,  and  designate  an  officer  to  swear 
in  our  volunteers,  and  arm  the  rest  of  our  people,  who 
are  willing  to  act  as  a  civic  or  home  guard,  I  think  we 
shall  be  able  to  hold  our  ground  here.  But  the  man 
sent  to  supersede  Harney  should  reach  here  before 
Harney  is  apprised  of  his  removal ;  and  the  order  to 
swear  in  our  volunteers  should  come  as  soon  as  possi 
ble,  and  should  be  sent  to  Lyon  by  telegraph,  if  not 
already  sent,  and  should  be  repeated,  even  if  the  order 
has  been  sent  already.  I  consider  these  matters  of 
vital  importance,  otherwise  would  not  urge  them  upon 
your  attention.  I  ask  you  to  see  Cameron  immedi 
ately  in  regard  to  the  business. 

"Yours,  FRANK  P.  BLAIR,  Jr. 

"  Hon.  Montgomery  Blair.'1 

After  sending  his  telegram  to  Washington,  on  the 
21st,  Mr.  Blair  went  to  the  arsenal  to  see  Lyon.     He 


THE    ST.  LOUIS    VOLUNTEERS.  343 

found  three  of  the  Committee  of  Safety  there  in  con 
sultation  with  the  Captain.  The  course  of  General 
Harney  arid  the  situation  of  affairs  were  gravely  dis 
cussed,  and  it  was  unanimously  resolved  that  the 
arsenal  should  be  reinforced  by  the  volunteers  that 
night,  General  Harney's  order  to  the  contrary  not 
withstanding.  These  recruits  were  successfully  intro 
duced  into  the  building,  and  armed  at  the  appointed 
time. 

On  the  same  day,  being  apprehensive  of  a  collision 
in  the  city,  Mr.  Blair  sent  his  family  away  from  St. 
Louis.  The  Southern  men  were  constantly  making 
offensive  demonstrations  in  front  of  his  residence,  and 
as  he  did  not  know  how  long  it  would  be  before  these 
insults  would  be  changed  into  violence,  he  thought 
it  best  to  send  his  family  beyond  the  reach  of  danger. 

On  the  23d,  General  Harney  was  summoned  by 
the  Secretary  of  War  to  report  at  Washington  without 
delay,  and  he  at  once  complied  with  the  order.  In 
four  days  four  regiments  were  mustered  into  the  Fed, 
eral  service.  Their  Colonels  were  Blair  (1st  Regt.), 
Boernstein  (2d  Regt,),  Sigel  (3d  Regt.),  and  Schutt- 
ner  (4th  Regt.).  Colonel  Blair  was  not  formally 
mustered  into  the  Federal  service  at  this  time,  as  he 
did  not  wish  to  forfeit  his  seat  in  Congress.  All  these 
regiments  were  full  to  the  maximum  limit,  and  more 
men  were  offered,  but  could  not  be  received.  The 
officers  were  anxious  to  elect  Colonel  Blair  their 
Brigadier-General,  but  he  declined  to  comply  with 
their  wishes,  declaring  that  Captain  Lyon  was  entitled 
by  his  services,  skill,  and  devotion  to  the  cause,  to  the 


344  LIFE    OF    FRANCIS    P.  BLAIR,  JR. 

honor.  Lyon  at  once  urged  Blair  to  accept  the  posi 
tion,  and  assured  him  of  his  earnest  desire  to  serve 
under  him ;  but  Blair  was  firm  in  his  decision.  He 
told  Lyon  that  it  was  likely  the  old  political  prejudice 
against  him  as  a  Republican  might  keep  some  men  out 
of  the  service  of  the  Union  if  he  assumed  the  command 
of  the  brigade,  and  assured  him  he  would  consider  the 
honor  too  dearly  bought  if  it  kept  back  a  single  man.* 
Lyon  was  finally  chosen  the  General  of  the  brigade, 
arid  at  once  commenced  to  act  as  such,  though  he  was 
not  officially  confirmed  in  his  command  until  some 
weeks  later.  The  rush  of  volunteers  was  so  great, 
that  Lyon  accepted  and  mustered  in  a  fifth  regiment, 
under  Colonel  Stifel,  trusting  to  Colonel  Blair  to  make 
good  his  action  with  the  Government.  In  addition 
to  this  force  of  five  thousand  men,  five  thousand  Home 
Guards  were  organized  and  armed,  and  still  it  was 
necessary  to  decline  many  volunteers. 

Having  armed  this  force,  Lyon  determined  to  send 
the  remainder  of  the  arms  and  stores  away  from  the 
arsenal,  in  order  to  make  sure  of  their  being  safe  from 
betrayal  or  capture.  On  the  nights  of  the  26th  of 
April  and  1st  of  May,  he  sent  away  by  steamer  every 
thing  of  value  to  Alton,  whence  the  precious  freight 
was  transferred  to  Springfield,  Illinois. 

On  the  3d  of  May,  the  militia  force  under  the 
command  of  Brigadier-General  D.  M.  Frost,  of  the 
State  service,  established  a  camp  of  instruction  on  the 
outskirts  of  the  city,  which  was  called  Camp  Jackson, 
in  honor  of  the  Governor  of  the  State.  This  camp 

*  Colonel  Pcekbnm. 


CAPTURE  OF  CAMP  JACKSON.          345 

was  established  for  the  ostensible  purpose  of  instruct- 
in  «*  the  militia  which  had  been  called  into  the  State 

o 

service  by  the  Governor,  but  really  for  the  purpose  of 
capturing  the  arsenal,  which  the  Southern  leaders  sup 
posed  to  be  still  furnished  with  its  usual  amount  of 
arms  and  stores.  The  presence  of  the  force  at  Camp 
Jackson  was  regarded  by  Captain  Lyon  and  Colonel 
Blair  as  a  formidable  menace  against  the  authority  of 
the  General  Government.  The  designs  of  General 
Frost  and  his  friends  were  fully  known  to  them,  and 
they  agreed  that  something  ought  to  be  done  to  check 
the  evil  before  it  grew  too  great.  Captain  Lyon  visit 
ed  the  camp  in  the  disguise  of  a  woman  on  the  9th  of 
May,  and  informed  himself  as  to  its  position,,  strength, 
&c.,  and  returning  to  his  quarters,  sent  for  Colonel 
Blair,  and  told  him  he  had  resolved  to  capture  Frost's 
whole  force  before  he  could  be  reinforced.  The  Com 
mittee  of  Safety  was  then  sent  for,  and  the  plan,  which 
had  received  Blair's  hearty  approval,  was  sanctioned 
by  them  after  some  hesitation.* 

Lyon  made  his  preparations  promptly,  and  on  the 
afternoon  of  May  10th,  suddenly  surrounded  Camp 
Jackson  with  his  five  regiments  and  a  battery  of  artil 
lery,  and  demanded  of  Gen.  Frost  an  immediate  sur 
render  of  his  camp  and  forces.  Being  completely  sur 
prised  and  outnumbered,  Frost  had  no  alternative  but 
a  compliance  with  this  demand,  and  at  once  surren 
dered  his  whole  force,  camp,  and  equipments. 

*  The  sanction  of  this  Committee  was  necessary,  inasmuch  as  the 
President  had  directed  Lyon  to  be  guided  by  the  advice  of  its  mem 
bers. 


346  LIFE    OF   FRANCIS    P.  BLAIR,  JR. 

A  large  crowd  of  citizens  had  collected  to  witness 
the  movements  of  the  Union  troops,  and  the  great  part 
of  these  spectators  were  friends  of,  and  sympathizers 
with  the  militia.  Infuriated  by  the  capture  of  their 
friends,  the  crowd  made  an  attack  on  company  F.  of 
the  Third  Regiment  of  Missouri  Volunteers.  At  first 
stones  and  bricks  were  used,  and  finally  several  pistol 
shots  were  fired  by  the  mob.  Captain  Blandowski, 
commanding  the  company,  urged  his  men  to  refrain 
from  returning  the  attack  of  the  mob,  but,  when  one 
of  his  men  had  been  killed,  several  wounded,  and  him 
self  mortally  wounded,  he  ordered  his  command  to  fire 
upon  the  mob.  The  order  was  obeyed  with  fatal  effect, 
and  the  crowd  was  driven  back  with  a  loss  of  twenty 
killed  and  wounded.  On  the  return  of  the  troops  to 
the  arsenal  with  their  prisoners,  they  were  followed 
by  the  crowd  for  some  distance,  and  one  or  two  more 
conflicts  occurred,  in  which  the  citizens  suffered  se 
verely.  The  total  loss  of  the  citizens  was  about  40  killed 
and  wounded.  One  federal  soldier  was  killed,  one 
(Capt.  Blandowski)  mortally  wounded,  and  several 
more  or  less  injured.  Lyon  and  Blair  exerted  them 
selves  to  the  utmost  to  keep  the  troops  from  firing. 
During  the  whole  affair  not  a  single  shot  was  fired  from 
Blair's  regiment,  though  his  men  were  subjected  to  the 
most  galling  taunts  and  insults  from  the  prisoners  and 
the  mob.  The  prisoners  were  conveyed  to  the  arsenal, 
where  they  were  parolled  and  sent  back  to  the  city  the 
next  evening. 

Gen.  Harney  returned  to  St.  Louis  on  the  llth  of 
May,  and  announced  his  intention  to  disband  the 


ENERGY    OF   MR.  BLAIR.  347 

Home  Guards,  a  declaration  which  greatly  elated  the 
Southern  leaders.  The  next  day  Gen.  Harney  called 
on  Col.  Blair  and  informed  him  of  this  design.  Blair 
replied  that  he  (Geri.  Harney)  had  no  right  to  do  so. 
He  showed  him  the  President's  order  authorizing  the 
organization  of  the  Home  Guards,  and  assured  him 
that  an  order  for  their  dispersion  would  not  be  submit 
ted  to  in  the  face  of  this  authority.  A  lengthy  interview 
ensued,  which  resulted  in  General  Harney's  promising 
not  to  interfere  with  the  Home  Guard.  Blair,  after 
the  General's  departure,  was  fearful  that  he  might  still 
attempt  to  break  up  this  force,  and  resolved  with  Lyon 
and  the  officers  of  the  regular  army  on  duty  at  the 
arsenal,  to  arrest  Harney  in  case  he  tried  to  put  such 
an  order  into  execution.  Harney,  however,  was  faith 
ful  to  his  promise,  and  issued  a  proclamation  stating 
that  he  had  no  authority  to  disband  or  disarm  the 
Home  Guards. 

About  this  time  certain  citizens  of  St.  Louis  went 
to  Washington  with  the  hope  of  having  Capt.  Lyon 
removed.  They  gained  over  the  Attorney  General  by 
their  misrepresentations,  and  came  near  being  success 
ful.  To  counteract  their  influence,  Col.  Blair  sent  his 
brother-in-law,  Mr.  F.  A.  Dick,  to  Washington,  to  lay 
the  real  state  of  affairs  before  the  President.  This 
special  messenger  was  soon  followed  by  a  statement 
from  the  Committee  of  Safety,  prepared  by  Col.  Blair, 
fully  sustaining  Lyon  in  all  his  acts.  Mr.  Dick's  mis 
sion  was  successful,  and  resulted  in  the  promotion  of 
Lyon  to  the  grade  of  Brigade  General  of  Volunteers, 
and  an  order  for  the  removal  of  General  Harney. 


348  LIFE    OF   FRANCIS    P.  BLAIR,  JR. 

This  order  Mr.  Lincoln  sent  to  Col.  Blair,  together  with 
the  following  letter : 

"WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  May  18th,  1861. 
"Hon.  F.  P.BLAIR: 

"  MY  DEAR  SIR  :  We  have  a  good  deal  of  anxiety 
here  about  St.  Louis.  I  understand  an  order  has  gone 
from  the  War  Department  to  you,  to  be  delivered  or 
withheld  in  your  discretion,  relieving  General  Harney 
from  his  command.  I  was  not  quite  satisfied  with  the 
order  when  it  was  made,  though  on  the  whole  I  thought 
it  best  to  make  it ;  but  since  then  I  have  become  more 
doubtful  of  its  propriety.  I  do  not  write  now  to  coun 
termand  it,  but  to  say  I  wish  you  would  withhold  it, 
unless  in  your  judgment  the  necessity  to  the  contrary 
is  very  urgent.  There  are  several  reasons  for  this.  We 
had  better  have  him  a  friend  than  an  enemy.  It  will 
dissatisfy  a  good  many  who  otherwise  would  be  quiet 
More  than  all,  we  first  relieve  him,  then  restore  him ; 
and  now  if  we  relieve  him  again  the  public  will  ask, 
4  Why  all  this  vacillation  ? ' 

"  Still,  if  in  your  judgment  it  is  indispensable,  let 
it  be  so.  Yours  very  truly, 

[Private.]  "A.  LINCOLN." 

"  Colonel  Blair  pocketed  the  letter  and  the  order. 
He  fully  entered  into  the  spirit  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  letter, 
and  talked  frankly  with  Lyon,  under  the  seal  of  con 
fidence,  regarding  it.  It  was  determined  the  order 
should  not  be  handed  to  Harney,  until  it  should  be 
criminal  to  longer  withhold  it.  On  the  next  day  ap- 


THE  HARNEY  AND  PRICE  AGREEMENT.      349 

peared  the  arrangement  between  Price  arid  Harney ; 
and  under  the  circumstances,  Colonel  Blair  concluded 
to  give  Harney  an  opportunity  of  more  completely 
testing  his  policy.  He  was  not  disposed  to  part  with 
Harney,  if  he  could  avoid  it.  He  admired  the  man 
in  his  military  capacity,  and  thought,  if  he  could  once 
divest  himself  of  the  influences  surrounding  him,  he 
would  do  well  enough.  But  day  by  day  events  multi 
plied,  and  the  Arsenal  was  thronged  with  messengers 
from  every  quarter  of  the  State,  complaining  of  the  or 
ganization  of  the  '  Missouri  State  Guard '  under  the 
Military  bill,  and  the  depredations  committed  by  the  Se 
cessionists.  Colonel  Blair  endeavored  to  rouse  Harney 
to  a  just  appreciation  of  the  demands  of  the  occasion, 
but  that  officer  could  not  agree  with  the  policy  of  the 
Colonel."  * 

The  agreement  between  Generals  Harney  and  Price 
was  one  by  which  the  State  authorities  pledged  them 
selves  to  maintain  order  in  the  State,  to  protect  all 
parties  in  their  rights,  and  to  refrain  from  raising 
troops  under  the  Military  bill.  Gen.  Harney,  in  con 
sideration  of  these  pledges  6n  the  part  of  the  State 
authorities  bound  the  General  Government  to  respect 
the  neutrality  of  Missouri,  and  merely  to  use  the  Fed 
eral  troops  for  the  purpose  of  preserving  the  peace,  at 
the  request  of  the  State  authorities.  The  pledges  of 
the  General  Government  were  faithfully  kept ;  but,  as 
will  be  seen  from  the  passage  quoted  above,  the  faith 
of  the  State  was  violated  daily.  The  Southern  element 
was  rapidly  growing  bolder  and  more  formidable,  and 
*  Gen.  Nathaniel  Lyon  and  Missouri  in  1861,  pp.  210-211. 


350  LIFE    OF   FRANCIS    P.  BLAIR,  JR. 

it  became  evident  to  all  that  if  the  Government  would 
maintain  its  authority  in  Missouri,  it  must  act  promptly 
and  with  vigor.  The  President,  on  the  27th  of  May, 
urged  General  Harney  to  insist  upon  the  faithful  ex 
ecution  of  the  pledges  of  the  State,  and  pointed  out  to 
him  their  frequent  violations.  In  view  of  all  this,  Col. 
Blair  came  to  the  conclusion  that  the  removal  of  Gen. 
Harney  was  now  indispensable  to  the  success  of  the 
Union  cause  in  Missouri,  and  on  the  30th  of  May,  he 
delivered  to  Gen.  Harney  the  order  for  his  removal  from 
his  command.  On  the  same  day,  he  wrote  to  the  Pres 
ident  as  follows : 

"  ST.  Louis  ARSENAL,  May  30^,  1861. 
u  To  THE  PRESIDENT  :  On  the  16th  of  May,  an  order 
was  issued  by  the  War  Department,  relieving  General 
Harney  from  the  command  of  the  Department  of  the 
West,  granting  him  leave  of  absence. 

'    O .  O 

"  By  order  of  the  President,  this  order  was  sent  to 
me,  to  be  delivered  to  General  Harney  when  in  case 
the  public  interest  required  it.  During  the  time  that 
Brigadier-General  Lyon,  acting  under  special  orders  of 
the  President,  was  in  command  of  the  United  States 
troops  at  this  post,  in  view  of  the  hostile  attitude  as 
sumed  by  the  Governor  and  authorities  of  this  State  to 
ward  the  United  States  Government,  General  (then 
Captain)  Lyon,  seeing  the  formidable  preparations 
which  were  being  made  by  the  authorities  to  commence 
war  upon  the  United  States,  and  knowing  that  these 
preparations  had  long  been  on  foot,  and  extended  to 
all  parts  of  the  State,  felt  it  to  be  his  duty  to  strike  a 


LETTER    TO    THE    PRESIDENT.  351 

decisive  blow  at  the  enemy  at  a  time  when  his  forces 
were  relatively  so  much  the  larger ;  so  that  such  a 
course  of  action,  accompanied  with  the  power  to  suc 
cessfully  keep  it  up,  would  intimidate  and  subdue  the 
Rebels  before  they  had  gained  strength  or  confidence. 
The  capture  of  Camp  Jackson,  while  it  furnished  con 
clusive  evidence  of  the  treasonable  purpose  of  those 
who  controlled  it,  served  greatly  to  intimidate  the 
leaders  of  the  Rebellion.  Had  it  been  followed  up  by  a 
blow  struck  at  the  enemy  in  other  parts  of  the  State, 
the  Rebellion  would  speedily  and  effectually,  at  a 
small  cost  of  life  or  treasure,  have  been  suppressed  in 
this  State  ;  and  it  was  the  policy  and  intention  of  Gen 
eral  Lyon  to  pursue  such  a  course.  In  this  policy  I 
sustained  General  Lyon. 

u  Just  at  this  point  General  Harney  assumed  the 
command,  and  before  the  order  relieving  him  reached 
me  he  had  made  an  arrangement  with  General  Price, 
commanding  State  forces,  the  purport  of  which  I  pre 
sume  is  known  to  the  President.  Satisfied  that  evil 
results  would  follow  from  that  arrangement,  I  should 
at  the  time  have  delivered  the  order  to  General  Har 
ney,  but  felt,  under  the  responsibility  placed  upon 
me,  that  it  was  proper  for  me  to  wait  and  see  if  any 
good  might  come  under  the  administration  of  General 
Harney.  From  that  day  to  this  it  has  been  perfectly 
apparent  to  me  that  matters  were  growing  worse,  and 
that  said  arrangement  served  only  as  a  cover  and  a 
protection  to  rebels  throughout  the  State.  I  have  to 
day  delivered  to  General  Harney  the  order  of  the  16th 
of  May  above  mentioned,  relieving  him,  feeling  that 


352  LIFE    OF    FRANCIS    P.  BLAIR,  JR. 

the  progress  of  events,  and  condition  of  affairs  in  this 
State,  makes  it  incumbent  upon  me  to  assume  the 
grave  responsibility  of  this  act,  the  discretionary  power 
in  the  premises  having  been  given  me  by  the  Presi 
dent,  and  I  make  a  brief  statement  of  the  reasons  there 
for. 

u  We  have  conclusive  evidence  that  extensive  prep 
arations  within  this  State  are  on  foot  to  raise  and  arm 
large  forces  to  make  war  upon  the  United  States  Gov 
ernment.  From  every  neighborhood  in  the  Central 
and  South-west  portion  of  the  State,  men  are  drilling 
and  arming,  and  both  men  and  arms  will  speedily  be 
brought  to  the  State  from  Arkansas.  A  large  num 
ber  of  wagons  have  been  sent  from  Jefferson  City  to 
the  Southern  part  of  the  State  to  transport  arms 
and  other  munitions  of  War.  For  the  last  ten  days 
I  have  had  most  of  my  time  occupied  by  persons 
from  all  parts  of  the  State,  who  have  come  here  ex 
pressly  to  give  information  of  this  state  of  facts,  and 
ask  the  aid  of  the  Government  to  protect  Union 
men. 

"  Should  these  things  be  permitted  longer  to  go  on, 
the  Union  men  would  be  crushed  or  driven  out  from 
all  parts  of  the  State,  and  the  State  be  completely 
given  over  to  the  hands  of  the  Rebels.  Day  after 
day  I  have  made  known  to  General  Harney  what 
was  occurring  in  the  interior,  and  I  have  urged  upon 
him  the  necessity  of  taking  measures  to  protect  the 
peaceful  part  of  the  people.  His  answer  has  been 
— '  I  will  tell  Price  about  it ;  I  will  get  Price  to 
correct  it ; '  and  he  has  treated  the  statements  of 


LETTER    TO    THE    PRESIDENT.  353 

these  men  from  the  interior  as  untrue  or  too  insignifi 
cant  to  deserve  attention.  At  times  he  has  promised 
me  that  he  would  interpose,  but  afterward  would 
say  that  there  was  no  occasion  for  doing  any  thing. 
I  ascribe  the  conduct  of  General  Harney  to  the  in 
fluences  by  which  he  is  constantly  surrounded.  His 
friends  and  advisers  are  bitter  enemies  of  the  Gov 
ernment,  some  of  them  pretended  Union  men,  others 
undisguised  Secessionists.  Constantly  surrounded  by 
these  enemies  of  the  Administration,  and  yielding  to 
the  advice  and  requests  of  such  men,  his  conduct  is 
such  that  under  him  the  cause  of  the  Union  is  rapidly 
sinking,  and  that  of  its  enemies  rapidly  attaining 
power ;  and  I  feel  and  know  that  his  removal  has  be 
come  absolutely  necessary.  The  preparations  of  the 
enemy  are  now  so  active  and  formidable,  that  I  am 
satisfied  the  President  should  order  a  large  increase  of 
United  States  forces  in  this  State,  so  that  troops  may 
be  enlisted  and  stationed  at  Jefferson  City,  Lexington, 
St.  Joseph,  Hannibal,  Macon  City,  Springfield,  and 
other  points. 

"In  other  States,  where  there  are  no  domestic  ene 
mies,  much  larger  forces  have  been  authorized,  while 
in  Missouri,  where  the  enemy  is  large  and  powerful, 
and  is  being  reenforced  from  the  South,  the  number 
authorized  is  inadequate.  I  therefore  urge  upon  the 
President  that  he  issue  such  orders  for  the  increase  of 
the  forces  in  this  State  as  will  enable  the  loyal  citizens 
to  protect  their  homes  and  the  Government  from  the 
Rebels.  Forces  raised  in  Missouri  will  be  better  able 
to  accomplish  this  purpose  than  those  from  other  States. 
23 


354  LIFE    OF   FRANCIS    P.  BLAIR,  JR. 

I  have  reliable  information  of  the  disloyalty  of  many 
of  the  United  States  officers  who  have  been  stationed 
in  New  Mexico  and  Utah,  and  there  is  reason  to  be 
lieve  that  they,  with  such  parts  of  their  commands  as 
they  may  be  able  to  draw  after  them,  acting  in  con 
junction  with  the  Indians,  to  the  South-west  of  this 
State,  who  by  emissaries  from  Missouri  and  Arkansas 
have  been  incited  to  hostility,  and  the  forces  from  the 
South-west  will  combine  in  supporting  the  Secession 
ists  in  this  State.  From  abundant  information  I  regard 
this  to  be  an  impending  danger,  and  in  view  of  it  I 
ask,  that  in  addition  to  authority  to  increase  our  force 
in  Missouri,  that  orders  be  issued  for  the  cooperation 
of  the  United  States  regulars  and  State  forces  in 
Kansas  to  be  employed  in  the  South-west  part  of  this 
State  and  Arkansas,  and  the  Indian  Territory.  We 
are  well  able  to  take  care  of  this  State  without  assist 
ance  from  elsewhere,  if  authorized  to  raise  a  sufficient 
force  within  the  State ;  and  after  that  work  is  done 
we  can  take  care  of  the  Secessionists  from  the  Arkansas 
line  to  the  Gulf,  along  the  west  shore  of  the  Mississippi. 
"  Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

"  FRANK  P.  BLAIR,  JR."  * 

General  Lyon  was  now  in  command  of  the  De- 

*  Upon  the  receipt  of  the  above  letter  at  Washington,  the  Post  Mas 
ter  General  wrote  to  Col.  Blair : 

"  Yours  to  the  President  came  to  hand  and  has  been  read  by  him. 
He  is  persuaded  that  you  were  right,  and  Cameron  sustains  you.  *  *  *  * 

"It  is  a  full  vindication  of  you  that  Ilarney,  after  denouncing  the 
Military  bill  as  unconstitutional,  proceeded  to  treat  with  Price,  acting 
under  its  authority,  who  did  not,  of  cour.-e,  keep  faith,  but  proceeded  at 
once  to  play  out  the  game  intended  by  the  bill  itself." 


INTERVIEW   WITH    THE    GOVERNOR.  355 

partrnent  of  the  West,  and  the  effect  of  the  change  was 
at  once  felt. 

As  soon  as  the  State  authorities  heard  of  the  re 
moval  of  General  Harney,  the  Governor  sought  an 
interview  with  General  Lyon,  who  at  once  consented 
to  the  request,  as  he  was  anxious  to  come  to  a  definite 
understanding  with  the  authorities  of  the  State.  The 
meeting  took  place  at  the  Planter's  Hotel  in  St.  Louis, 
on  the  1 1th  of  June.  There  were  present  Gen.  Lyon, 
Col.  Blair  and  Major  Conant,  on  the  part  of  the  Fed 
eral  Government,  and  Governor  Jackson,  Gen.  Price 
and  Mr.  T.  L.  Sneed,  on  the  part  of  the  State.  The 
interview  lasted  four  hours. 

"  Governor  Jackson  demanded  that  no  United 
States  forces  should  be  quartered  in  or  marched  through 
the  State. 

"  General  Lyon  laid  down  his  views,  as  a  servant 
of  the  Government,  somewhat  to  this  effect :  That  if 
the  Government  withdrew  its  forces  entirely,  resort 
would  be  made  to  secret  and  subtle  measures  to  pro 
vide  arms  and  effect  organizations  which,  upon  any 
pretext,  could  put  forth  a  formidable  opposition  to  the 
General  Government,  and  even  while  arming,  combi 
nations  would  doubtless  form  in  certain  'localities  to 
oppress  and  drive  out  loyal  citizens,  to  whom  the  Gov 
ernment  was  bound  to  give  protection,  but  which  it 
would  be  helpless  to  do,  as  also  to  repress  such  combi 
nations,  if  its  forces  could  not  be  sent  into  the  State. 
A  large  aggressive  force  might  be  formed  and  advanced 
from  the  exterior  into  the  State,  to  assist  it  in  carrying 
out  the  Secession  programme,  and  the  Government 


356  LIFE    OF   FRANCIS    P.  BLAIR,  JR. 

could  not,  under  the  limitations  proposed,  take  posts 
on  these  borders  to  meet  and  repel  such  force.  The 
Government  could  not  shrink  from  its  duties  nor 
abdicate  its  corresponding  rights ;  and,  in  addition  to 
the  above,  it  was  the  duty  of  its  civil  officers  to  execute 
civil  process,  and  in  case  of  resistance,  to  receive  the 
support  of  military  force.  The  proposition  of  the 
Governor  would  at  once  overturn  the  Government's 
privileges  and  prerogatives  which  he  (Gen.  Lyon)  had 
neither  the  wish  nor  authority  to  do.  In  his  opinion, 
if  the  Governor  and  the  State  authorities  would  earn 
estly  set  about  to  maintain  the  peace  of  the  State,  and 
declare  their  purposes  to  resist  -outrages  upon  loyal 
citizens  of  the  Government,  and  repress  insurrections 
against  it,  and  in  case  of  violent  combinations,  needing 
cooperation  of  the  United  States  troops,  they  should 
call  upon  or  accept  such  assistance,  and  in  case  of 
threatened  invasion,  the  Government  troops  took  suit 
able  posts  to  meet  it,  the  purposes  of  the  Government 
would  be  subserved  and  no  infringement  of  the  Stated 
rights  or  dignity  committed.  He  would  take  good 
care,  in  such  faithful  cooperation  of  the  State  authori 
ties  to  this  end,  that  no  individual  should  be  injured 
in  person  or  property,  and  that  the  utmost  delicacy 
should  be  observed  towards  all  peaceable  persons  con 
cerned  in  these  relations.  Upon  this  basis,  in  Gen. 
Lyon's  opinion,  could  the  rights  of  both  the  General 
and  the  State  Governments  be  secured,  and  peace 
maintained."  * 

After  this  interview  the  Governor  returned  to  Jef- 

*  Annual  Cyclopaedia,  1861,  p.  431. 


COL.  BLAIR    LEAVES    MISSOURI.  357 

ferson  City,  the  Capital  of  the  State,  and  the  next 
day,  the  12th,  issued  his  proclamation  calling  fifty 
thousand  of  the  State  militia  into  active  service  for  the 
purpose  of  driving  the  Federal  troops  from  the  State, 
and  protecting  the  "  lives,  liberty,  and  property  of  the 
citizens." 

General  Lyon  and  Colonel  Blair  now  determined 
to  assert  the  authority  of  the  Government  without 
further  delay,  and  as  the  Governor  had  called  on  the 
people  of  the  State  to  drive  them  out,  they  resolved  to 
anticipate  him,  seize  the  State  Capital,  and  hold  it  for 
the  Union. 

Accordingly,  on  the  night  of  the  13th  of  June, 
the  steamers  latan  and  J.  C.  Swann,  having  on  board 
fifteen  hundred  infantry  and  a  battery  of  artillery, 
under  Col.  Blair,  who  was  accompanied  by  Gen.  Lyon, 
left  St.  Louis  for  Jefferson  City,  which  they  reached 
and  occupied  on  the  15th,  the  Governor  and  his  friends 
having  fled  to  the  interior  of  the  State. 

A  day  or  two  later  Gen.  Lyon  proceeded  up  the 
river  to  Boonville  with  Col.  Blair's  regiment,  and  oc 
cupied  the  place,  driving  off  the  State  troops  under 
Price,  which  tried  to  resist  his  landing.  The  fight  was 
sharp  and  brief,  and  the  victory  decisive. 

On  the  24th  of  June,  Col.  Blair  left  Missouri  for 
Washington  City,  to  attend  the  Special  Session  of 
Congress  which  had  been  summoned  by  the  President 
to  convene  on  the  4th  of  July  1861.  The  Missouri 
Democrat  of  the  6th  of  July  1861,  thus  speaks  of  the 
effect  of  his  absence : 

"  The  lack  of  Colonel  Blair's  energetic  spirit  has 


358  LIFE    OF   FRANCIS    P.  BLAIR,  JR. 

been  apparent  in  every  attempt  at  progress  made  since 
he  left  for  Washington. 

uln  the  absence  of  Colonel  Blair  the  General 
(Lyon)  lacks  a  strong  right  hand.  The  adroitness  and 
facility  with  which  he  grasped  the  State  then  reeling 
under  Secession  influence,  and  pinned  the  star  with  in 
creasing  firmness  to  the  constellation  of  the  Union, 
will  in  due  time  cause  grateful  recollections  to  spring 
up  in  the  breast  of  every  honest,  loyal  citizen.  Turn 
which  way  we  will  we  can  find  no  one  who  contributed 
more  successfully  to  this  great  object  than  Colonel 
Blair.1'  * 

*  This  same  journal  in  its  issue  of  June  26th  1861,  speaks  as  follows 
of  Col.  Blair: 

44  Col.  Bla'r  left  this  city  on  Monday  last  for  the  East ;  the  situation 
of  things  in  Missouri  for  the  moment  not  calling  for  his  presence  at  the 
head  of  his  regiment,  he  has  departed  East  to  render  a  more  valuable 
service  to  Missouri  and  to  the  whole  country.  The  time  that  must  elapse 
between  this  and  the  4th  of  July,  on  which  day  Congress  will  meet,  is 
short  enough  for  the  duties  he  has  undertaken  to  discharge  before  he  will 
be  required  to  resume  his  seat  in  the  House  of  Representatives. 

"  That  he  will  do  4  well  and  quickly '  what  is  in  his  hands  to  do,  none 
can  doubt.  From  the  moment  that  Colonel  Blair  entered  on  public  life, 
he  has  had  this  confidence  from  his  friends.  From  that  moment  he  has 
commanded  this  respect  from  his  opponents.  Boy  or  man,  all  have  con 
ceded  to  Frank  Blair  the  will  and  the  ability  to  meet  the  responsibilities 
of  every  occasion  in  which  it  has  been  his  duty  to  act.  "With  the  ex 
pansive  vigor  of  a  superior  intellect,  he  has  developed  new  powers  in 
every  crisis,  and  risen  equal  to  the  demands  of  every  emergency.  To 
day  he  fills  a  higher  place  in  the  popular  estimation  than  he  has  ever 
filled.  He  has  left  Missouri  with  a  greater  reputation,  a  more  extended 
influence,  and  larger  capabilities  for  good  than  she  has  yet  enjoyed.  It 
is  but  just  to  Col.  Bla'r  to  record  that,  on  his  return  to  this  city  in  April 
last,  his  talents  were  subjected  to  a  most  severe  and  trying  experiment. 
The  grand  object  before  him,  at  that  time,  was  to  arrest  the  State  of 
Missouri,  then  trembling  on  the  verge  of  revolution,  and  bind  her  fast  to 
the  Union.  The  means  by  which  this  great  and  patriotic  end  was  to  be 


SPEECH    AT   NEW    YORK.  359 

Col.  Blair  reached  Washington  by  way  of  New 
York,  and  while  in  the  latter  city  he  delivered  a  pow 
erful  speech  at  the  Metropolitan  Hotel,  in  which  he 

accomplished  were  of  the  most  difficult  and  delicate  nature.  They  con 
sisted  in  the  organizing  and  arming  in  this  city  of  a  military  force  suffi 
cient  to  protect  its  loyal  inhabitants  against  armed  bands  of  secessionists, 
already  organized  and  officered  and  drilled,  and  backed  up  by  a  traitorous 
State  Government,  and  a  City  Government  which,  if  not  traitorous  in 
fact,  was  hostile  to  the  Union  and  sympathizing  strongly  with  secession. 
Who  doe*>  not  remember  the  haughty  bearing  of  the  secessionists  at  that 
time  (so  chop-fallen  withal  and  humbled  now)?  Our  Commissioners  of 
Police  had  di-covered  that  Captain  (now  General)  Lyon,  who  had  only 
some  two  hundred  men  in  the  Arsenal,  had  no  authority  to  bring  his 
men  outside  its  walls.  They  had  procured  the  opinion  of  a  certain 
traitor  lawyer  that  to  do  so  was  unconstitutional.  They  had  posted  sen 
tinels  around  the  Arsenal  to  spy  out  the  movements  there,  and  bring  into 
contempt  the  national  flag,  and  put  under  the  law  of  a  rebel  city  police 
the  men  who  bore  it.  Brigadier-General  Frost,  'who  has  since  melted 
quite  away,'  had  announced  his  purpose  to  plant  batteries  on  the  high 
grounds  commanding  the  Arsenal,  and  General  Harney  had  decided  that 
it  would  not  be  '•prudent''  in  Lyon  to  take  any  step  to  prevent  it,  and 
that  no  such  attempt  should  be  made.  St.  Louis  trembled  and  cowered 
beneath  the  overwhelming  power  of  secession. 

"  The  difficulty  of  organizing  such  a  military  force  as  Blair  desired 
was  three-fold.  There  was  difficulty  in  overcoming  the  fears  of  the  rank 
and  file  of  the  Union  men,  who  knew  their  motions  were  watched  by  a 
sharp  and  hostile  police.  There  was  danger  that  the  first  small  borly  of 
Union  men  who  might  initiate  the  work  might  be  set  upon  and  cut  to 
pieces  by  the  '  Minute  Men,'  who  had  garrisoned  and  fortified  with  can 
non  the  building  on  the  corner  of  Fifth  and  Pine,  or  by  Frost's  brigade, 
who  were  at  that  time  quartered  in  the  city. 

"  But  another  most  imposing  difficulty  to  be  overcome  lay  in  the  hes 
itation  and  timidity  of  many  men  of  influence  among  the  Union  men 
themselves.  It  was  dangerous,  said  these,  to  organize;  it  was  rash  to 
arm;  it  would  excite  secessionists,  provoke  attack,  draw  down  upon  us 
the  city  police,  and  lead  to  bloodshed.  But  all  these  difficulties  were 
surmounted;  it  was  in  the  genius  of  Colonel  Blair  to  overcome  them  all. 
He  moved  right  on.  His  quiet,  steady,  and  unpretending  courage  in 
spirited  the  faltering  Union  men.  His  discretion  and  celerity  of  action 


VERSITY 


360 


LIFE    OF   FRANCIS    P.  BLAIR,  JR. 


urged  prompt  and  vigorous  war  measures,  and  inti 
mated  that  General  Scott  was  too  slow  for  the  occa 
sion. 

The  first  Session  of  the  37th  Congress  was  opened 
at  Washington  on  the  4th  of  July,  1861,  in  compli 
ance  with  the  proclamation  of  President  Lincoln.  Col. 
Blair  was  present  in  his  capacity  of  Representative 
from  Missouri.  Before  the  House  proceeded  to  the 
election  of  a  Speaker,  Mr.  Vallandigham  offered  a  res 
olution  that  the  Clerk  be  instructed  to  omit  the  name 
of  Mr.  Blair  in  calling  the  roll,  as  that  gentleman  was 
ineligible  in  consequence  of  holding  a  military  com 
mission  from  the  United  States  Government.  Col. 

overreached  both  the  police  and  the  '  Minute  Men,'  the  organization  was 
perfected  with  so  much  secrecy  and  dispatch  that  an  army  seemed  to 
have  been  created  in  an  hour.  Jt  was  in  this  way  that  Colonel  Blair  held 
up  and  sustained  the  Union  men  with  one  hand,  while  with  the  other  he 
smote  and  discomfited  the  secessionists. 

"  The  rest  is  known.  The  capture  of  Oamp  Jackson,  that  nucleus  of 
the  Secession  army,  which  was  to  t;«ke  Missouri  out  of  the  Union,  the 
most  gallant  feat  in  the  history  of  the  War,  was  but  one  of  the  results 
of  the  wisdom  we  have  been  attempting  to  portray. 

"  The  battle  of  Boonville,  another  brilliant  feat  of  arms,  whose 
splendors  have  covered  our  little  army  as  with  a  mantle,  might  have  been 
won  by  any  officer  with  less  than  a  tithe  of  the  credit  for  talents  which 
rightfully  belong  to  Colonel  Blair.  These  victories  were  won,  in  fact, 
last  winter  and  spring,  when  Frank  Blair,  and  the  friends  who  followed 
after  him  in  their  self-denying  work  of  patriotism,  threaded  the  streets 
and  alleys  of  St.  Louis  by  night,  and  met  witli  secrecy  in  halls  and  garrets, 
and  collected,  and  officered,  and  drilled,  and  formed,  and  moulded  into 
shape  by  flow  degrees  the  Union  army  of  St.  Louis,  six  thousand  strong, 
soon  afier  to  be  swelled  by  contributions  from  the  country  to  nearly 
thrice  tliat  number.  *  *  *  The  State  is  safe,  and  has  been  saved  by 
a  stroke  of  genius,  with  little  bloodshed,  from  the  horror  of  a  protracted 
conflict.  The  indiscretion  of  a  far-reaching  sagacity  and  a  lofty  courage 
in  a  single  man  has  done  the  work." 


COL.  BLAIR   IN    CONGRESS.  361 

Blair  then  informed  Mr.  Vallandigham  that  he  was 
wrong  in  his  statement,  as  he,  Col.  Blair,  had  not 
been  sworn  into  the  service  of  the  United  States. 
Mr.  Vallandigham's  objection,  therefore,  fell  to  the 
ground. 

The  House  then  proceeded  to  ballot  for  a  Speaker. 
On  the  first  ballot  Mr.  Blair,  having  been  placed  in 
nomination,  received  fifty  votes.  Before  the  result 
was  announced,  however,  he  rose  and  said : 

u  I  think  it  unnecessary  to  impose  upon  the  House 
the  necessity  of  calling  even  another  ballot  for  the 
purpose  of  securing  an  organization  of  the  House.  I 
beg  leave,  therefore,  to  decline  my  candidacy  at  this 
point,  and  request  such  of  my  friends  who  have  voted 
for  me,  as  desire  to  do  so,  to  change  their  votes." 

The  result  was  the  election  of  Mr.  Grow,  of  Penn 
sylvania,  for  whom  Col.  Blair  had  voted. 

Upon  the  organization  of  the  House,  Col.  Blair 
was  appointed  Chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Military 
Affairs.  In  this  capacity  he  reported  and  procured 
the  passage  of  most  of  the  measures  which  enabled  the 
Government  to  place  and  maintain  its  armies  in  the 
field.  He  was  unceasing  in  his  activity,  and  in  the 
short  session  of  the  summer  of  1861  accomplished  an 
amount  of  work  which  is  almost  astonishing. 

o 

On  the  13th  of  July,  1861,  he  introduced  a  reso 
lution  for  the  expulsion  from  the  House  of  General 
John  B.  Clark,  of  Missouri,  in  consequence  of  the 
latter  having  taken  up  arms  in  behalf  of  the  South 
against  the  United  States,  which  resolution  was  adopt 
ed. 


362  LIFE    OF   FRANCIS    P.  BLAIR,  JR. 

Col.  Blair  was  a  warm  supporter  of  the  Adminis 
tration  of  Mr.  Lincoln  during  this  session.  After  the 
battle  of  Bull  Run,  he  defended  the  President  from  the 
charge  that  he  had  forced  General  Scott  to  fight  the 
battle  against  that  officer's  better  judgment. 

At  the  close  of  the  session  Col.  Blair  returned  to 
Missouri,  and  at  once  applied  himself  to  the  task  of 
raising  troops.  General  Fremont,  who  had  been 
placed  in  command  of  the  Western  Department,  took 
no  steps  to  meet  the  danger  with  which  the  State  was 
threatened.  He  was  deaf  to  all  the  appeals  of  the 
Union  men  for  aid,  and  was  more  careful  of  his  own 
interests  than  of  those  of  the  Government.  Indignant 
at  such  a  course,  Col.  Blair  boldly  denounced  it,  and 
laid  the  facts  of  the  case  before  the  Government. 
Fremont  unjustly  placed  him  under  arrest,  but  soon 
found  he  had  made  a  grave  mistake,  for  Col.  Blair's 
popularity  was  so'  great  in  St.  Louis,  that  the  Gen 
eral's  high-handed  measure  created  the  greatest  in 
dignation  and  excitement  amongst  the  Union  men 
of  the  place.  The  newspapers  of  the  city  espoused 
Col.  Blair's  cause,  and  his  case  was  at  once  laid  before 
the  President,  who  ordered  his  release,  a  measure 
which  gave  great  satisfaction  in  Missouri,  where  Col. 
Blair's  services  were  known  and  appreciated.  Fremont 
again  arrested  him  during  the  winter,  but  was  finally 
compelled  to  release  him. 

Col.  Blair  attended  the  Second  Session  of  the  37th 
Congress,  in  December,  1861,  and  served  to  its  close, 
acting  during  that  time  as  Chairman  of  the  Military 
Committee. 


CHAPTER  III. 

Colonel  Blair  is  Requested  to  Raise  a  Brigade  in  Missouri — Is  made  Brig 
adier-General — Stationed  at  Helena,  Ark. — Grant's  First  Campaign 
aga'nst  Vicksburg — Sherman's  Expedition  against  Chirkasaw  Bluffs 
— The  Landing  of  the  Troops — The  Assault  of  the  29th  of  December, 
1862 — Gallant  Conduct  of  General  Blair— The  Assault  a  Failure — 
The  Capture  of  Arkansas  Post — General  Blair  made  a  Major-Gen 
eral  of  Volunteers — Assigned  the  Command  of  a  Division — His  Ser 
vices  in  the  Vicksburg  Campaign — Rejoins  Sherman  on  the  Big 
Black— The  Investment  of  Vicksburg— The  Assaults  of  May  19th 
and  22d — Conduct  of  General  Blair — His  Reconnoissance  towards 
the  Big  Black — The  Second  Capture  of  Jackson,  Miss. — Is  made 
Sherrnnn's  Second  in  Command — Put  in  Charge  of  the  Fifteenth 
Army  Corps — The  March  to  Chattanooga — The  Battles  of  Missionary 
Ridge — The  Pursuit  of  Bragg — The  Relief  of  Knoxville — General 
Blair  is  Deprived  of  his  Command. 

IN  consequence  of  the  personal  popularity  and 
great  influence  of  Colonel  Blair  in  Missouri,  the  Sec 
retary  of  War  early  in  the  Spring  of  1862,  requested 
him  to  raise  a  brigade  of  volunteers  in  that  State,  of 

O  ' 

which  brigade  he  was  to  be  the  regularly  commissioned 
commander.  Col.  Blair  at  once  proceeded  to  comply 
with  this  request.  In  the  course  of  a  few  months  his 
brigade  was  organized  and  ready  for  the  field,  and  on 
the  7th  of  August,  1862,  he  was  commissioned  Brig 
adier-General  of  Volunteers.  His  brigade  was  at  first 
attached  to  the  Fourth  Division  of  the  Thirteenth 
Army  Corps,  commanded  by  Gen.  Frederick  Steele, 
and  stationed  at  Helena,  Arkansas. 


364  LIFE    OF   FRANCIS    P.  BLAIR,  JR. 

In  the  winter  of  1862-63,  General  Grant  first  con 
ceived  the  design  of  attacking  Vicksburg,  Mississippi. 
At  this  time  the  Federal  Army  of  the  Tennessee,  com 
manded  by  General  Grant,  lay  along  the  line  of  the 
Memphis  and  Charleston  Railway,  from  the  vicinity  of 
luka  to  Memphis ;  and  along  the  Mobile  and  Ohio  and 
Mississippi  Central  Railways,  from  the  Tallahatchie 
river  to  the  Tennessee.  The  Confederate  army,  com 
manded  by  General  Pemberton,  and  consisting  of  the 
combined  forces  of  that  officer  and  Generals  Price  and 
Lovell,  held  the  line  of  the  Tallahatchie  and  covered 
the  approaches  to  Central  Mississippi.  The  Missis 
sippi  river  being  open  to  Vicksburg  and  in  the  control 
of  the  naval  forces  of  the  United  States,  it  was  in 
General  Grant's  power  to  turn  the  left  flank  of  Pem- 
berton's  line  by  a  force  which  should  be  landed  on  the 
left  bank  of  the  Mississippi,  and  compel  him  to  fall 
back  to  Vicksburg.  Accordingly,  about  the  last  of 
October,  General  Grant  determined  to  make  an  early 
advance  upon  the  enemy.  His  plan  was  as  follows. 
A  considerable  force  of  cavalry,  under  Major-General 
Washburne,  was  to  cross  the  Mississippi  from  Helena, 
Arkansas,  march  suddenly  upon  Grenada,  Mississippi, 
and  threaten  Pemberton's  rear.  At  the  same  time 
Grant,  with  the  main  army,  would  move  southward 
from  Jackson,  Tenn.,  by  way  of  Grand  Junction  and 
La  Grange,  following  generally  the  line  of  the  Mobile 
and  Ohio  Railway ;  while  Sherman,  with  four  brigades 
of  infantry,  was  to  move  out  of  Memphis  on  the  Tchu- 
lahoma  road,  and  attack  the  enemy  at  Wyatt's  simul 
taneously  with  Grant's  arrival  at  Waterford.  The 


THE    FIRST   VICKSBUBG    CAMPAIGN.  365 

plan  was  skilful,  and  the  first  part  was  well  and  vigor 
ously  executed. 

Three  columns  moved  at  the  appointed  time.  Hear 
ing  of  Grant's  approach,  Pemberton  prepared  to  dis 
pute  his  progress  ;  but  abandoned  his  intention  as  soon 
as  he  learned  of  Washburne's  movement  in  his  rear. 
Hastily  breaking  up  his  camp,  he  retreated  to  Grenada 
without  striking  a  blow,  and  left  Grant  in  undisputed 
possession  of  the  line  of  the  Tallahatchie. 

The  first  part  of  the  plan  of  operations  being  thus 
successfully  accomplished,  General  Grant  prepared  to 
carry  out  the  remainder.  It  was  his  design  that  a 
strong  force  under  General  Sherman  should  descend 
the  Mississippi  river,  surprise  and  carry  the  works 
near  the  mouth  of  the  Yazoo  river,  which  commanded 
the  approaches  to  Vicksburg;  while  he,  himself,  with 
the  main  army  should  move  rapidly  upon  Vicksburg 
by  way  of  Grenada  and  Jackson,  driving  Pemberton 
before  him  and  keeping  him  too  closely  engaged  to 
allow  him  to  send  reinforcements  to  that  city  to  resist 
Sherman's  attack.  He  believed  that  should  Sherman 
fail  to  capture  the  city,  he  could  at  least  secure  a  lodg 
ment  on  the  shore  of  the  Yazoo  with  his  right  wing  in 
communication  with  the  fleet,  which  he  could  hold 
until  the  main  army  could  arrive  and  complete  the  in 
vestment  of  the  city. 

Sherman  left  Memphis  with  the  Thirteenth  Army 
Corps  on  the  20th  of  December,  1862,  accompanied  by 
a  strong  fleet  of  gunboats  under  command  of  Rear- 
Admiral  D.  D.  Porter.  At  Helena,  Arkansas,  he  was 
reinforced  by  General  Steele's  division,  of  which  Gen 
eral  Blair's  brigade  formed  a  part. 


366  LIFE    OF   FRANCIS    P.  BLAIR,  JR. 

The  expedition  reached  Milliken's  Bend,  just  above 
the  mouth  of  the  Yazoo,  on  the  night  of  the  24th  of 
December.  On  Christmas  day,  Sherman  sent  a  force 
into  Louisiana  and  destroyed  a  part  of  the  Vicksburg 
and  Shreveport  (Texas)  Railway,  to  prevent  any  troops 
being  sent  against  him  over  that  route.  On  the  26th, 
the  expedition,  convoyed  by  the  gunboats,  ascended 
the  Yazoo  for  twelve  miles,  Morgan's  division  leading 
the  way,  and  followed  by  Steele's,  Morgan  L.  Smith's, 
and  A.  J.  Smith's,  in  the  order  named.  By  noon  on 
the  27th,  the  entire  command  had  disembarked  on  the 
south  side  of  the  Yazoo,  near  the  mouth  of  Chickasaw 
Bayou.  The  whole  army  then  moved  towards  the 
enemy's  works,  and  meeting  the  Rebel  pickets,  drove 
them  in  towards  Vicksburg.  "  During  the  night  of 
the  27th,  the  ground  was  reconnoitred  as  well  as  pos 
sible,  and  it  was  found  to  be  as  difficult  as  it  could 
possibly  be  from  nature  and  art.  Immediately  in  front 
was  a  bayou,  passable  only  at  two  points,  on  a  narrow 
levee  and  on  a  sand-bar,  which  were  perfectly  com 
manded  by  the  enemy's  sharpshooters  that  lined  the 
levee  or  parapet  on  its  opposite  bank.  Behind  this 
was  an  irregular  strip  of  beach  or  table-land,  on  which 
were  constructed  a  series  of  rifle-pits  and  batteries ;  and 
behind  that  a  high  abrupt  range  of  hills,  whose  scarred 
sides  were  marked  all  the  way  up  with  rifle-trenches, 
and  the  crowns  of  the  principal  hills  presented  heavy 
batteries.  The  county-road  leading  from  Vicksburg 
to  Yazoo  City  ran  along  the  foot  of  these  hills,  and 
served  the  enemy  as  a  covered  way  along  which  he 
moved  his  artillery  and  infantry  promptly  to  meet  the 


CHICASAW    BAYOU.  367 

Union  forces  at  any  point  at  which  they  attempted  to 
cross  this  difficult  bayou.  Nevertheless,  that  bayou, 
with  its  levee-parapet  backed  by  the  lines  of  rifle-pits, 
batteries,  and  frowning  hills,  had  to  be  passed  before 
they  could  reach  firm  ground,  and  meet  their  enemy 
on  anything  like  fair  terms. 

"  Steele,  in  his  progress,  followed  substantially  an 
old  levee  back  from  the  Yazoo  to  the  foot  of  the  hills 
north  of  Thompson's  Lake,  but  found  that  in  order  to 
reach  the  hard  land  he  would  have  to  cross  a  long 
corduroy  causeway,  with  a  battery  enfilading  it,  others 
cross-firing  it,  with  a  similar  line  of  rifle-pits  and 
trenches  before  described.  He  skirmished  with  the 
enemy  on  the  morning  of  the  28th,  while  the  other 
columns  were  similarly  engaged  ;  but  on  close  and 
critical  examination  of  the  swamp  and  causeway  in 
his  front,  with  the  batteries  and  rifle-pits  well  manned, 
he  came  to  the  conclusion  that  it  was  impossible  for 
him  to  reach  the  county  road  without  a  fearful  sacri 
fice  of  life. 

"  On  his  reporting  that  he  could  not  cross  from  his 
position  to  the  one  occupied  by  the  centre,  Sherman 
ordered  him  to  retrace  his  steps  and  return  in  steam 
boats  to  the  southwest  side  of  Chickasaw  Bayou,  and 
support  Morgan's  division.  This  he  accomplished 
during  the  night  of  the  28th,  arriving  in  time  to  sup 
port  him,  and  take  part  in  the  assault  of  the  29th."* 

Some  sharp  fighting  occurred  on  the  28th,  in  con 
sequence  of  the  movements  of  the  Union  forces  to  take 
up  favorable  positions  for  assaulting  the  hostile  works. 

*  Sherman  and  his  Campaigns,  p.  83. 


368  LIFE    OF   FRANCIS    P.  BLAIR,  JR. 

Time,  was  very  important.  As  yet,  Sherman  had 
heard  nothing  from  Grant,  but  supposed  him  to  be 
moving  southward  and  engaging  Pemberton,  and  he 
determined,  by  a  vigorous  and  concentrated  movement, 
to  break  the  centre  of  the  enemy's  line,  near  Chickasaw 
Creek,  and  secure  a  lodgment  on  the  bluffs.  The 
morning  of  the  29th  was  appointed  for  the  assault. 
It  was  gallantly  made,  but  was  unsuccessful. 

Gen.  Blair  bore  himself  with  conspicuous  gallantry 
in  this  engagement,  and  won  the  unqualified  praise  of 
his  superior  officers.  The  part  taken  by  him  is  thus 
described  by  the  correspondent  of  the  New  York  Her 
ald,  who  witnessed  the  fight : 

"  General  Morgan,  at  eleven  o'clock  A.  M.,  sent 
word  to  General  Steele  that  he  was  about  ready  for 
the  movement  on  the  hill,  and  wished  the  latter  to 
support  him  with  General  Thayer's  brigade.  General 
Steele  accordingly  ordered  General  Thayer  to  move 
his  brigade  forward,  and  be  ready  for  the  assault.  The 
order  was  promptly  complied  with,  and  General  Blair 
received  from  General  Morgan  the  order  to  assault  the 
hill.  The  artillery  had  been  silent  for  some  time ;  but 
Hoffman's  Battery  opened  when  the  movement  began. 
This  was  promptly  replied  to  by  the  enemy,  and  taken 
up  by  Griffith's  First  Iowa  Battery,  and  a  vigorous 
shelling  was  the  result.  By  the  time  General  Blair's 
brigade  emerged  from  its  cover  of  cypress  forest,  the 
shell  were  dropping  fast  among  the  men.  A  field  bat 
tery  had  been  in  position  in  front  of  Hoffman  s  Bat 
tery  ;  but  it  limbered  up  and  moved  away  beyond  the 
heavy  batteries  and  the  rifle-pits. 


BLAIR'S  ATTACK.  369 

"  In  front  of  the  timber  where  Blair's  Brigade  had 
been  lying  was  an  abatis  of  young  trees,  cut  off  about 
three  feet  above  the  ground,  and  with  the  tops  fallen 
promiscuously  around.  It  took  some  minutes  to  pass 
this  abatis,  and  by  the  time  it  was  accomplished  the 
enemy's  fire  had  not  been  without  effect.  Beyond  this 
abatis  was  a  ditch  fifteen  or  twenty  feet  deep,  and  with 
two  or  three  feet  of  water  in  the  bottom.  The  bottom 
of  the  ditch  was  a  quicksand,  in  which  the  feet  of  the 
men  commenced  sinking,  the  instant  they  touched  it. 
By  the  time  this  ditch  was  passed,  the  line 'was  thrown 
into  considerable  confusion,  and  it  took  several  min 
utes  to  put  it  in  order.  All  the  horses  of  the  officers 
were  mired  in  this  ditch.  Every  one  dismounted  and 
moved  up  the  hill  on  foot, 

u  Beyond  this  ditch  was  an  abatis  of  heavy  timber 
that  had  been  felled  several  months  before,  and,  from 
being  completely  seasoned,  was  more  difficult  of  pass 
age  than  that  constructed  of  the  greener  and  more 
flexible  trees  encountered  at  first.  These  obstacles 
were  overcome  under  a  tremendous  fire  from  the  ene 
my's  batteries  and  the  men  in  the  rifle-pits.  The  line 
was  recovered  from  the  disorder  into  which  it  had 
been  thrown  by  the  passage  of  the  abatis ;  and,  with 
General  Blair  at  their  head,  the  regiments  moved  for 
ward  c  upon  the  enemy's  works.'  The  first  movement 
was  over  a  sloping  plateau,  raked  by  direct  and  enfi 
lading  fires  from  heavy  artillery,  and  swept  by  a  per 
fect  storm  of  bullets  from  the  rifle-pits.  Nothing 
daunted  by  the  dozens  of  men  that  had  already  fallen, 
the  brigade  pressed  on.  and  in  a  few  moments  had 
24 


370  LIFE    OF   FRANCIS    P.  BLAIR,  JE. 

driven  the  enemy  from  the  first  range  of  rifle-pits  at 
the  base  of  the  hill,  and  were  in  full  possession. 

"Halting  but  a  moment  to  take  breath,  the  bri 
gade  renewed  the  charge,  and  speedily  occupied  the 
second  line  of  rifle-pits,  about  two  hundred  yards  dis 
tant  from  the  first.  General  Blair  was  the  first  man 
of  his  brigade  to  enter.  All  this  time  the  murderous 
fire  from  the  enemy's  guns  continued.  The  batteries 
were  still  above  this  line  of  rifle-pits.  The  regiments 
were  not  strong  enough  to  attempt  their  capture  with 
out  a  prompt  and  powerful  support.  For  them  it  had 
truly  been  a  march 

*  Into  the  jaws  of  death — 
Into  the  mouth  of  hell.' 

"Almost  simultaneously  with  the  movement  of 
General  Blair  on  the  left,  Gen.  Thayer  received  his 
command  to  go  forward.  He  had  previously  given 
orders  to  all  his  regiments  in  column  to  follow  each 
other  whenever  the  first  moved  forward.  He  accord 
ingly  placed  himself  at  the  head  of  his  advance  regiment, 
the  Fourth  Iowa,  and  his  order — '  Forward,  Second 
Brigade ! ' — rang  out  clear  above  the  tumult.  Colonel 
Williamson,  commanding  the  Fourth  Iowa,  moved  it 

/  O  I 

off  in  splendid  style.  General  Thayer  supposed  that 
all  the  other  regiments  of  his  brigade  were  following,  in 
accordance  with  his  instructions  previously  issued.  He 
wound  through  the  timber  skirting  the  bayou,  crossed 
at  the  same  bridge  where  General  Blair  had  passed  but 
a  few  minutes  before,  made  his  way  through  the  ditch 
and  both  lines  of  abatis,  deflected  the  right  and  as 
cended  the  sloping  plateau  in  the  direction  of  the  rifle- 


BLAIR'S  ATTACK.  371 

pits  simultaneously  with  General  Blair,  and  about  two 
hundred  yards  to  his  right. 

"When  General  Thayer  reached  the  rifle-pits,  after 
hard  fighting  and  a  heavy  loss,  he  found,  to  his  horror, 
that  only  the  Fourth  Iowa  had  followed  him,  the 
wooded  nature  of  the  place  having  prevented  his  ascer 
taining  it  before.  Sadly  disheartened,  with  little  hope 
of  success,  he  still  pressed  forward  and  fought  his  way 
to  the  second  line,  at  the  same  time  that  General  Blair 
reached  it  on  the  left.  Colonel  Williamson's  regiment 
was  fast  falling  before  the  concentrated  fire  of  the 
rebels,  and  with  an  anxious  heart  General  Thayer 
looked  around  for  aid. 

"  The  rebels  were  forming  three  full  regiments  of 
infantry  to  move  down  upon  General  Thayer,  and  were 
a  proportionately  formidable  force  against  General 
Blair.  The  rebel  infantry  and  artillery  were  constantly 
in  full  play,  and  two  heavy  guns  were  raking  the  rifle- 
pits  in  several  places.  ***** 

"  When  General  Blair  entered  the  second  line  of 
rifle-pits,  his  brigade  continued  to  pursue  the  enemy 
up  the  hill.  The  Thirteenth  Illinois  infantry  was  in 
the  advance,  and  fought  with  desperation  to  win  its 
way  to  the  top  of  the  crest.  Fifty  yards  or  more  above 
the  second  line  of  rifle-pits  is  a  small  clump  of  willows, 
hardly  deserving  the  name  of  trees.  They  stand  in 
a  cornfield,  and  from  the  banks  of  the  bayou  below 
present  the  appearance  of  a  green  hillock.  To  this 
copse  many  of  the  rebels  fled  when  they  were  driven 
from  the  rifle-pits,  and  they  were  promptly  pursued  by 
General  Blair's  men.  The  Thirteenth  met  and  en- 


372  LIFE    OF    FRANCIS    P.  BLAIR,  JR. 

gaged  the  rebels  hand  to  hand,  and  in  the  encounter 
bayonets  were  repeatedly  crossed.  It  gained  the  place, 
driving  out  the  enemy  ;  but  as  soon  as  our  men  occu 
pied  it  the  fire  of  a  field  battery  was  turned  upon  them, 
and  the  place  became  too  hot  to  be  held." 

Believing  that  with  reinforcements  he  could  carry 
the  entire  position  in  his  front,  General  Blair  hurried 
to  the  foot  of  the  bluff  to  urge  in  person  the  despatch  of 
fresh  troops  to  his  aid ;  but  the  Confederates  concentra 
ted  such  a  strong  force  of  infantry  and  artillery  in  his 
front  that  it  became  plain  that  his  command  would 
be  destroyed  before  assistance  could  reach  him,  and 
he  reluctantly  gave  the  order  to  retire  down  the  hill. 
He  brought  off  his  troops  slowly  and  successfully, 
being  himself  the  last  to  leave  the  ground. 

Not  disheartened  by  the  failure  of  this  assault, 
Sherman  resolved  to  renew  the  attack  on  the  30th,  but 
the  next  morning  he  found  the  enemy  ""s  lines  too  much 
strengthened  and  their  force  too  much  increased  to 
allow  him  to  hope  for  success,  and  the  attack  was 
abandoned.  On  the  31st  Sherman  sent  in  a  flag  of 
truce,  asking  permission  to  bury  the  dead,  which  was 
granted.  An  attack  on  Haines1  Bluff  was  planned 
for  the  1st  of  January,  1863,  but  given  up  in  conse 
quence  of  a  dense  fog  which  made  it  impossible  to  move 
the  troops.  The  expedition,  after  another  disappoint 
ment,  was  then  abandoned,  the  troops  were  reembarked, 
and  the  fleet  returned  to  Milliken's  Bend,  where,  a 
day  or  two  later,  Sherman  learned  that  the  part  assigned 
to  General  Grant  in  the  plan  for  the  capture  of  Vicks- 
burg,  had  been  defeated  by  the  surrender  of  Holly 


ARKANSAS    POST.  373 

Springs  to  the  Confederate  cavalry,  under  Gen.  Van 
Dora,  and  the  seizure  of  Grant's  communications  by 
them. 

General  McClernand  now  arrived  and  relieved 
General  Sherman  of  his  command.  He  divided  his 
army  into  two  Corps,  the  command  of  one  of  which 
was  given  to  General  Sherman,  the  other  to  General 
Morgan.  Gen.  Blair's  brigade  continued  to  form  a 
part  of  Sherman's  corps,  constituting  the  first  brigade 
of  the  first  (Steele's)  division. 

On  the  4th  of  January,  1863,  the  army  of  General 
McClernand  embarked  in  its  transports  and,  accom 
panied  by  Admiral  Porter's  fleet,  ascended  the  Arkan 
sas  River  for  the  purpose  of  reducing  Arkansas  Post, 
a  strong  fortification  on  the  loft  or  north  bank  of  that 
stream,  about  fifty  miles  above  its  mouth.  The  attack 
was  opened  by  the  gunboats  on  the  9th,  and  under 
the  cover  of  this  fire  the  troops  were  landed.  The  10th 
was  passed  in  taking  up  positions,  arid  the  assault  was 
ordered  for  the  morning  of  the  llth.  Sherman  was 
directed  to  open  fire  with  all  his  batteries  as  soon  as 
the  gunboats  should  commence  firing,  and  after  a  short 
cannonade  to  assault  the  enemy's  works  with  Steele's 
and  Stuart's  divisions.  He  made  his  attack  with  vigor 
and  compelled  the  surrender  of  the  fort  with  its  garri 
son  and  armament.  Blair's  brigade,  commanded  by 
General  Blair  in  person,  Jed  the  advance  of  Steele's 
division,  and  was  the  first  to  encounter  the  enemy.  It 
came  in  for  a  fair  share  of  the  hard  fighting,  and,  with 
its  gallant  leader,  won  the  unstinted  praise  of  the  whole 
army. 


374  LIFE    OF   FKANCIS    P.  BLAIR,  JR. 

After  the  destruction  of  the  captured  fort  the  ex 
pedition  returned  to  its  old  quarters  at  Millikens  Bend, 
where  it  was  soon  after  joined  by  General  Grant  in 
person,  who  was  followed  by  his  whole  army.  Then 
began  the  final  campaign  against  Vicksburg. 

For  his  gallantry  and  skill  as  displayed  in  the 
attacks  upon  the  Chickasaw  Bluffs  and  Arkansas  Post, 
General  Blair  was  promoted  to  the  grade  of  Major- 
General  of  Volunteers,  to  date  from  the  19th  of 
November,  1862.  During  the  month  of  April,  1863, 
Brig.-Gen.  David  Stuart,  who  had  been  commanding 
a  division  in  Sherman's  corps,  resigned  his  commission 
in  consequence  of  his  appointment  to  the  rank  of 
Major-General  not  being  confirmed  by  the  Senate,  and 
General  Blair  was  given  his  division,  which  he  led 
through  the  ensuing  campaign. 

General  Blair  participated  in  Sherman's  feint  upon 
the  Yazoo  batteries  by  which  Grant  covered  his  march 
down  the  Louisiana  shore  to  Hard  Times  Bend. 
When  Sherman  was  ordered  to  follow  Grant,  General 
Blair  was  left  with  his  division  to  hold  the  position  at 
Milliken's  Bend  until  he  could  be  relieved  by  troops 
from  Memphis.  As  soon  as  these  arrived  he  moved  to 
Hard  Times  Bend  by  a  forced  march,  and  crossing  the 
river  rejoined  the  army  on  the  Mississippi  shore.  On 
the  14th  of  May,  his  division,  temporarily  under  Gen. 
McClernand's  orders,  bivouacked  at  New  Auburn. 
He  did  not  rejoin  Sherman  in  time  to  take  part  in  the 
capture  of  Jackson,  but  acted  with  General  McClernand 
until  after  the  battle  of  Champion  Hills.  He  rejoined 
Sherman  with  his  division  and  the  pontoon  train,  which 


THE    ADVANCE    UPON   VICKSBURG.  375 

was  the  only  one  in  the  entire  army,  at  Bridgeport,  at 
noon  on  the  17th  of  May.  That  night  he  threw  his 
pontoon  bridges  over  the  Big  Black,  after  some  slight 
opposition  from  the  enemy,  and  his  own  and  Steele's 
divisions  at  once  crossed  over,  followed  by  Tattle's  in 
the  morning.  Sherman  started  off  early  on  the  morn 
ing  of  the  18th,  and  marching  rapidly  towards  Vicks- 
burg,  gained  the  Benton  Road  on  the  north  side  of  the 
cjty,  and  thrust  his  column  between  Yicksburg  and  the 
forts  on  the  Yazoo.  He  then  moved  closer  to  the 
enemy's  works  on  the  north  side  of  the  city,  halting 
only  when  his  skirmishers  were  within  musket  range 
of  them.  Here  he  threw  Blair's  division  in  front  of 
the  works,  with  Tuttle's  in  support  of  it,  and  ordered 
Steele  to  follow  a  blind  road  to  the  right  until  he 
reached  the  Mississippi  River.  The  enemy  in  the 
Yazoo  forts  now  finding  themselves  cut  off  from  Vicks- 
burg  and  exposed  to  capture,  abandoned  those  defences 
in  the  night,  and  on  the  morning  of  the  19th  Sherman 
occupied  them,  and'  opened  communication  with  the 
fleet  of  Admiral  Porter. 

Believing  that  he  could  carry  the  town  by  a  prompt 
attack,  General  Grant  ordered  an  assault  by  his  whole 
force  on  the  enemy's  works  at  noon  on  the  19th  of 
May.  The  attack  was  gallantly  made,  but  was  a  failure. 
General  Blair's  division  took  part  in  it,  leading  the 
advance  of  Sherman's  line,  and  suffered  heavily. 

A  second  assault  was  ordered  by  Grant  for  the  22d 
of  May.  This  accomplished  more  than  was  gained  in 
that  of  the  19th,  but  Grant  failed  to  carry  the  enemy's 
line.  The  part  borne  by  General  Blair  in  this  des- 


376  LIFE    OF   FRANCIS    P.  BLAIR,  JR. 

perate  engagement  will  be  seen  from  the  following 
account  of  the  operations  of  Sherman's  corps : 

u  In  Sherman's  corps.  Blair's  division  was  placed 
at  the  head  of  the  road,  Tattle's  in  support,  and  Gen 
eral  Steele  was  to  make  his  attack  at  a  point  in  his 
front  about  half  a  mile  to  the  right.  The  troops  were 
grouped  so  that  the  movement  could  be  connected  and 
rapid.  The  road  lies  on  the  crown  of  an  interior  ridge, 
rises  over  comparatively  smooth  ground  along  the  edge 
of  the  ditch  of  the  right  face  of  the  enemy's  bastion, 
and  enters  the  parapet  at  the  shoulder,  of  the  bastion. 
No  men  could  be  seen  in  the  enemy's  works,  except 
occasionally  a  sharpshooter,  who  would  show  his  head 
and  quickly  discharge  his  piece.  A  line  of  picked 
skirmishers  was  placed  to  keep  them  down.  A  volun 
teer  storming  party  of  a  hundred  and  fifty  men  led  the 
column,  carrying  boards  and  poles  to  bridge  the  ditch. 
This,  with  a  small  interval,  was  followed  in  order  by 
Ewing's,  Giles  Smith's,  and  Kirby  Smith's  brigades, 
bringing  up  the  rear  of  Blair's  division.  All  marched 
by  the  flank,  following  a  road  by  which  the  men  were 
partially  sheltered,  until  it  was  necessary  to  take  the 
crown  of  the  ridge  and  expose  themselves  to  the  full 
view  of  the  enemy.  The  storming  party  dashed  up 
the  road  at  the  double-quick,  followed  by  Ewing's 
brigade,  the  Thirtieth  Ohio  leading,  while  the  artillery 
of  Wood's,  Barrett's,  Waterhouse's,  Spoor's,  and  Hart's 
batteries  kept  a  concentric  fire  on  the  bastion  to  com 
mand  this  approach.  The  storming  party  reached  the 
salient  of  the  bastion,  and  passed  towards  the  sally 
port.  Then  rose  from  every  part  commanding  it  a 


BLAIR'S  ATTACK  UPON  VICKSBURG.  377 

double  rank  of  the  enemy,  and  poured  on  the  head  of 
the  column  a  terrific  fire.  It  halted,  wavered,  and 
sought  cover.  The  rear  pressed  on,  but  the  fire  was 
so  hot  that  very  soon  all  followed  this  example.  The 
head  of  the  column  crossed  the  ditch  on  the  left  face 
of  the  bastion,  arid  climbed  up  on  the  exterior  slope. 
There  the  colors  were  planted,  and  the  men  burrowed 
in  the  earth  to  shield  themselves  from  the  flank  fire. 
The  leading  brigade  of  Ewing  being  unable  to  carry 
that  point,  the  next  brigade  of  Giles  Smith  was  turned 
down  a  ravine,  and,  by  a  circuit  to  the  left,  found 
cover,  formed  line,  and  threatened  the  parapet  about 
three  hundred  yards  to  the  left  of  the  bastion ;  while 
the  brigade  of  Kirby  Smith  deployed  on  the  further 
slope  of  one  of  the  spurs,  where,  with  Ewing's  brigade, 
they  kept  up  a  constant  fire  against  any  object  that 
presented  itself  above  the  parapet. 

u  About  two  P.  M.,  General  Blair  having  reported 
that  none  of  his  brigades  could  pass  the  point  of  the 
road  swept  by  the  terrific  fire  encountered  by  Ewing's, 
but  that  Giles  Smith  had  got  a  position  to  the  left  in 
connection  with  General  Ransom,  of  McPherson's 
corps,  and  was  ready  to  assault,  Sherman  ordered  a 
constant  fire  of  artillery  and  infantry  to  be  kept  up  to 
occupy  the  attention  of  the  enemy  in  his  front,  while 
Ransom's  and  Giles  Smith's  brigades  charged  up 
against  the  parapet.  They  also  met  a  staggering  fire, 
before  which  they  recoiled  under  cover  of  the  hill-side. 
At  the  same  time,  while  McPherson's  whole  corps  was 
engaged,  and  having  heard  from  General  Grant  Gen 
eral  McClernand's  report,  which  subsequently  proved 


378  LIFE    OF   FRANCIS    P.  BLAIR,  JR. 

inaccurate,  that  he  had  taken  three  of  the  enemy's 
forts,  and  that  his  flags  floated  on  the  stronghold  of 
Vicksburg,  Sherman  ordered  General  Tuttle  at  once  to 
send  to  the  assault  one  of  his  brigades.  He  detailed 
General  Mower's,  and  while  General  Steele  was  hotly 
engaged  on  the  right,  and  heavy  firing  could  be  heard 
all  down  the  line  to  his  left,  Sherman  ordered  their 
charge,  covered  in  like  manner  by  Blair's  division  de 
ployed  on  the  hill-side,  and  the  artillery  posted  behind 
parapets  within  point-blank  range.  General  Mower 
carried  his  brigade  up  bravely  and  well,  but  met  a  fire 
more  severe,  if  possible,  than  that  of  the  first  assault, 
with  a  similar  result.  The  colors  of  the  leading  reg 
iment,  the  Eleventh  Missouri,  were  planted  by  the 
side  of  those  of  Blair's  storming  party,  and  there 
remained  till  withdrawn,  after  nightfall,  by  Sherman's 
orders.  General  Steele,  with  his  division,  made  his 
assault  at  a  point  about  midway  between  the  bastion 
and  the  Mississippi  River.  The  ground  over  which  he 
passed  was  more  open  and  exposed  to  the  flank  fire  of 
the  enemy's  batteries  in  position,  and  was  deeply  cut 
up  by  gulleys  and  washes,  but  his  column  passed 
steadily  through  this  fire,  and  reached  the  parapet, 
which  was  also  found  to  be  well  manned  and  defended 
by  the  enemy.  He  could  not  carry  the  works,  but 
held  possession  of  the  hill-side  till  night,  when  he 
withdrew  his  command  to  his  present  position.  The 
loss  in  Sherman's  corps  in  this  attack  was  about  six 
hundred  killed  and  wounded."  * 

Toward  the  last  of  May,  it  being  reported  to  Gen. 

*  Sherman  and  his  Campaigns. 


THE  BIG  BLACK  EECONNOISANCE.        379 

eral  Grant  that  General  Johnston  was  moving  from 
Jackson  to  attack  him,  he  resolved  to  send  out  a  recon- 
noisance  towards  the  Big  Black  to  ascertain  the  posi 
tion  and  probable  designs  of  Johnston's  army.  The 
command  of  this  expedition,  by  which  much  valuable 
information  was  gained  and  some  important  captures 
made,  was  given  to  General  Blair.  The  Herald's  cor 
respondent  thus  describes  it : 

"  Information  reaching  the  ears  of  the  command 
ing  general,  that  Johnston,  in  possession  of  a  consid 
erable  force,  was  moving  towards  the  Big  Black  River 
with  an  intention  of  making  a  demonstration  on  our 
army  now  in  the  rear  of  Vicksburg,  induced  the  move 
ment  of  a  sufficient  body  of  troops  in  that  direction,  to 
meet  the  approaching  enemy,  if  found  as  reported,  and 
engage  him  before  he  could  effect  a  crossing,  or  at 
every  hazard  to  repel  any  attempt  he  might  make  to 
secure  a  foothold  on  this  side.  Accordingly,  an  expe 
dition  was  sent  out  under  General  F.  P.  Blair,  Jr., 
composed  of  men  selected  from  each  corps  of  the 
army,  with  their  artillery  and  a  command  of  cavalry. 
On  the  27th  of  May,  the  party  started  on  their  mis 
sion,  and  marching  hastily  towards  Mechanicsburg,  the 
cavalry  in  advance,  when  near  that  place,  fell  in  with 
about  one  thousand  men,  partly  of  the  Twentieth  Mis 
sissippi  mounted  infantry,  commanded  by  Colonel 
Wirt  Adams,  and  the  rest,  composed  of  detachments, 
all  under  command  of  General  Adams.  A  brisk  skir 
mish  ensued,  resulting  in  forcing  back  our  cavalry. 
The  infantry  was  soon  formed  and  thrown  forward,  and 
after  a  brief  engagement  the  enemy  left  the  field  in  haste. 


380  LIFE    OF   FRANCIS    P.  BLAIR,  JR. 

"  This  affair  being  over,  the  troops  pushed  forward, 
scouring  the  country  in  all  directions,  seizing  stock, 
bacon,  and  every  other  thing  useful  to  the  enemy.  The 
advance  marched  within  twenty  miles  of  Yazoo  City, 
without  meeting  any  force,  then  struck  across  the  coun 
try  and  returned  to  take  their  part  in  the  investment 
of  Vicksburg. 

"  The  facts  collected  concerning  the  enemy  were, 
that  Johnston  had  at  his  call  twenty  thousand  men  at 
Canton,  and  a  similar  number  at  Jackson.  This  force 
was  composed  of  very  old  and  young  men,  all  con 
scripted  for  the  occasion,  and  were  without  arms.  His 
serviceable  force  did  not  number  more  than  fifteen 
thousand,  though  by  the  inhabitants  it  is  estimated 
much  higher. 

;t  The  expedition  returned,  confident  that  no  fears 
should  be  entertained  of  serious  difficulty  from  the 
direction  of  the  Big  Black,  at  any  rate  for  some  time. 
His  last  experience  had  so  intimidated  the  rebel  gen 
eral  that  there  was  little  danger  of  great  boldness  on 
his  part,  and  so  long  as  he  remainded  on  the  other  side 
of  the  river,  General  Grant  was  informed  that  he 
need  have  no  concern  about  him.  Our  cavalry  was  al 
ways  in  movement  in  that  direction,  and  kept  close 
watch  on  all  his  plans. 

"  The  captures  made  during  the  expedition  amount 
ed  to  five  hundred  head  of  cattle,  five  hundred  horses 
and  mules,  one  hundred  bales  of  cotton  and  ten 
thousand  pounds  of  bacon.  All  bridges  were  either 
burned  or  demolished,  and  all  forage  destroyed.  In 
a  word,  the  country  was  divested  of  everything  useful 
to  the  enemy.'1 


GEN.  BLAIR  COMMANDS  THE  15TH  CORPS.     381 

General  Blair  participated  in  Sherman's  bold  move 
ment  upon  Johnston  after  the  surrender  of  Vicks- 
burg,  and  in  the  second  capture  of  Jackson.  His  servi 
ces  during  the  campaign  were  brilliant  and  most  val 
uable,  and  won  the  highes't  praise  from  his  superiors. 
General  Grant  declared  that  "  Frank  Blair  is  the 
best  volunteer  officer  in  the  Army." 

At  the  close  of  the  campaign,  General  Blair  ob 
tained  a  brief  furlough,  and  went  North  to  attend 
to  matters  of  a  personal  and  private  nature. 

He  returned  to  the  army  in  October,  and  was  as 
signed  by  General  Sherman  the  charge  of  two  divisions, 
ranking  next  to  Sherman  himself,  in  command.  Grant 
having  ordered  Sherman  to  join  him  at  Chattanooga, 
General  Blair  was  at  once  sent  off  with  his  corps 
to  Corinth.  Sherman  joined  him  at  that  point  on 
the  llth  of  October,  and  directed  him  to  push  for 
ward  to  luka  with  the  first  and  second  divisions  of 
Osterhaus  and  Morgan  L.  Smith,  while  he  himself 
(Sherman)  remained  behind  a  few  days  to  hasten  for 
ward  the  troops  as  they  came  up,  and  superintend 
the  repairs  of  the  railroad.  He  joined  Gen.  Blair  at 
luka  on  the  18th,  and  a  few  days  later  ordered  him 
to  drive  the  enemy  out  of  Tuscumbia,  Ala.,  and  oc 
cupy  the  place,  which  was  successfully  accomplished 
by  Gen.  Blair  on  the  the  27th  of  October. 

On  the  25th,  Sherman  having  been  given  command 
of  the  Department  of  the  Tennessee,  assigned  General 
Blair  to  the  command  of  the  Fifteenth  Army  Corps. 
Blair,  as  we  have  seen,  having  secured  Tuscumbia, 
made  preparations  for  protecting  the  passage  of  the 


382  LIFE    OF   FRANCIS    P.  BLAIR,  JR. 

army  across  the  Tennessee,  but  as  Sherman  on  the 
same  day  received  a  message  from  Grant  to  drop  his 
work  on  the  railroad,  and  march  rapidly  towards 
Bridgeport,  all  previous  intentions  were  abandoned, 
and  Sherman  at  once  pushed  forward  with  the  advance 
to  Eastport,  leaving  Gen.  Blair  to  bring  up  the  rear. 
The  Tennessee  was  crossed  at  Eastport,  and  the  Army 
after  one  of  the  most  remarkable  marches  of  the 
War,  reached  Bridgeport  about  the  16th  of  November. 

General  Blair  took  part  in  the  hard  fought  battle 
of  Missionary  Hidge,  distinguishing  himself  greatly, 
and  fully  sustaining  the  wisdom  of  General  Sherman 
in  selecting  him  for  the  command  of  a  corps.  He 
joined  in  the  pursuit  of  Bragg' s  forces,  his  corps  lead 
ing  the  advance,  and  on  the  28th  of  November  in 
flicted  great  injury  upon  the  Railway  between  Chat 
tanooga  and  Atlanta.  He  also  participated  in  the 
march  to  the  relief  of  Knoxville,  leading  the  advance 
with  his  corps.  He  was  highly  complimented  by 
General  Sherman  for  his  service  in  this  campaign, 
and  was  regarded  by  the  Army  and  country  generally, 
as  one  of  the  best  and  bravest  commanders  in  the 
service.  Notwithstanding  this,  however,  at  the  close 
of  the  campaign,  he  was  without  sufficient  reason  sud 
denly  superseded  in  the  command  of  the  corps  he  had 
led  so  gallantly. 

Secretary  Stanton,  acting  upon  his  own  authority, 
issued  the  order  relieving  Gen.  Blair,  and  had  the 
effrontery  to  declare  that  he  did  so  u  by  order  of  the 
President."  As  soon  as  he  heard  of  this,  Mr.  Lincoln 
called  on  Mr.  Stanton  to  demand  the  revocation  of 


ONE  OF  STANTON'S  OUTRAGES.  383 

the  order,  as  he  had  promised  the  command  of  the 
Corps  to  Gen.  Blair.  As  the  campaign  was  over, 
however,  and  the  army  about  to  go  into  winter  quarters, 
he  decided  to  ask  Gen.  Blair  to  give  up  the  15th  Corps 
and  take  his  seat  in.  the  new  Congress,  promising  him 
a  new  and  equally  high  command  the  next  Spring. 
Gen.  Blair,  in  deference  to  the  wish  of  the  President, 
concluded  to  do  this.  The  conduct  of  the  Secretary 
of  War  was  most  reprehensible  in  this  case,  as  it  was 
founded  solely  upon  his  political  hostility  to  Gen. 
Blair,  with  whom  Grant  and  Sherman  were?  both  well 
pleased. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

General  Blair  is  Elected  to  Congress— Decides  to  be  Guided  by  the  Pres 
ident's  Wishes— Letter  of  Mr.  Lincoln— Takes  his  Seat  in  the  House- 
Sharp  Attacks  on  him — His  Bold  Reply — Denunciation  of  the  Abuses 
of  the  Government  in  the  Border  States — Denounces  the  Confisca 
tion  Bill — A  Powerful  Argument — Draws  upon  himself  the  Anger 
and  Malice  of  the  Extreme  Radicals— They  endeavor  to  Injure  his 
Reputation — Charges  against  him  in  the  House — He  Denounces  their 
Author  as  a  Liar — Asks  for  an  Investigation,  which  is  Ordered — Is 
Triumphantly  Acquitted — His  Speech  in  his  own  Defence — A  Power 
ful  Vindication — Malice  of  his  Enemies — He  Leaves  the  House  and 
Returns  to  the  Field — The  Radicals  try  to  Deprive  him  of  his  Com 
mand—Resolution  in  the  House — Reply  of  the  President — General 
Blair's  Persecutors  Defeated. 

GENERAL  BLAIII  had  risen  rapidly  in  the  Army, 
and  as  his  success  had  been  the  result  of  genuine 
merit,  he  had  no  wish  to  leave  the  service  perma 
nently,  but,  yielding  to  the  wishes  of  his  friends  at 
home,  he  had  allowed  his  name  to  be  presented  as  a 
candidate  for  Congress  from  St.  Louis,  in  the  Fall 
elections  of  1862,  and  had  been  triumphantly  returned 
by  his  admiring  constituents.  When  the  time  for  the 
meeting  of  Congress  drew  near,  he  was  in  considerable 
doubt  as  to  whether  his  duty  to  the  country  required 
him  to  leave  the  service  and  take  his  seat  in  Con 
gress,  or  retain  his  commission  and  remain  in  the  field. 
Some  of  his  friends  were  anxious  to  have  him  in  Con 
gress,  and  it  was  intimated  that  if  he  would  take  his 
seat  in  that  body  he  would  surely  be  made  speaker  of 


LETTER    FROM    THE    PRESIDENT.  385 

the  House.  Finally,  in  order  to  decide  the  doubt 
which  perplexed  him,  General  Blair  decided  to  be 
guided  by  the  wishes  of  the  President,  and  requested 
his  brother,  the  Hon.  Montgomery  Blair,  who  held  a 
seat  in  Mr.  Lincoln's  Cabinet  as  Post  Master  General, 
to  say  as  much  to  the  President.  Thereupon  Mr.  Lin 
coln  addressed  the  following  letter  to  Mr.  Blair : 

"EXECUTIVE  MANSION,  ) 
"WASHINGTON,  Nw.  2d,  1863.      ) 
"Hon.  Montgomery  Blair : 

"  MY  DEAR  SIR  :  Some  days  ago,  I  understood  you 
to  say  that  your  brother,  Gen.  Frank  Blair,  desires  to 
be  guided  by  my  wishes  as  to  whether  he  will  occupy 
his  seat  in  Congress,  or  remain  in  the  field.  My  wish, 
then,  is  compounded  of  what  I  believe  will  be  best  for 
the  country  ;  and  it  is,  that  he  will  come  here,  put  his 
military  commission  in  my  hands,  take  his  seat,  go 
into  caucus  with  our  friends,  abide  the  nominations, 
help  elect  the  nominees,  and  thus  organize  a  House  of 
Representatives  which  will  really  support  the  Govern 
ment  in  the  War.  If  the  result  shall  be  the  election 
of  himself  as  Speaker,  let  him  serve  in  that  position. 
If  not,  let  him  re-take  his  commission  and  return  to 
the  army  for  the  benefit  of  the  country. 

"This  will  heal  a  dangerous  schism  for  him.  It 
will  relieve  him  from  a  dangerous  position,  or  a  mis 
understanding,  as  I  think  he  is  in  danger  of  being 
permanently  separated  from  those  with  whom  only  he 
can  ever  have  a  real  sympathy — the  sincere  opponents 
of  slavery. 
25 


38 C  LIFE   OF   FRANCIS    P.  BLAIR,  JR. 

u  It  will  be  a  mistake  if  he  shall ,  allow  the  pro 
vocations  offered  him  by  insincere  time-servers  to 
drive  him  from  the  house  of  his  own  building.  He 
is  young  yet  He  has  abundant  talents — quite  enough 
to  occupy  all  his  time  without  devoting  any  to 
temper. 

"  He  is  rising  in  military  skill  and  usefulness.  His 
recent  appointment  to  the  command  of  a  corps,  by  one 
so  competent  to  judge  as  Gen.  Sherman,  proves  this. 
In  tha.t  line  he  can  serve  the  country  and  himself  more 
profitably  than  he  could  as  a  member  of  Congress 
upon  the  floor. 

"  The  foregoing  is  what  I  would  say  if  Frank 
Blair  was  my  brother  instead  of  yours. 

[Signed]  "A.  LINCOLN." 

In  accordance  with  this  request,  Gen.  Blair  left 
the  Army  just  after  the  relief  of  Knoxville,  arid  went 
to  Washington.  He  took  his  seat  in  the  House  on 
the  12th  of  January,  1864,  as  Kepresentative  from  the 
St.  Louis  District. 

On  the  23d  of  February,  1864,  in  reply  to  certain 
attacks  made  upon  him  by  one  of  his  colleagues,  Gen. 
Blair  addressed  the  House  at  considerable  length,  ad 
ministering  a  scathing  rebuke  to  those  who  were  seek- 

o  o 

ing  to  lead  the  Administration  into  the  most  unwar 
rantable  excesses,  and  denouncing  and  exposing  their 
outrages  and  frauds  in  Missouri  and  Maryland. 

On  the  5th  of  February,  the  bill  for  confiscating 
the  property  of  persons  in  rebellion  against  the  authority 
of  the  United  States  being  under  consideration,  Gen. 


BOLD    SPEECH    OF   GEN.  BLAIR.  387 

Blair  addressed  the  House  at  considerable  length. 
In  the  course  of  his  remarks,  he  said : 

"  There  is  some  discussion  as  to  the  authority  of  the 
President  under  the  Constitution  to  make  certain  pro 
clamations,  giving  effect  to  public  sentiment  upon  this 
subject.  I  shall  not  pause  to  debate  this  question.  I 
have  heard  enough  and  seen  enough  to  convince*  me 
that  if  any  other  sanction  or  guarantee  is  required,  it 
will  not  be  withheld.  If  a  constitutional  prohibition 
of  slavery  in  all  the  States  and  Territories  of  the  Union 
is  considered  essential,  it  will  be  conceded  by  the  con 
sent  of  the  southern  States  themselves ;  and  if  I  am 
not  greatly  mistaken,  such  an  amendment  will  be  sup 
ported  by  the  Democratic  party  of  the  northern  States 
as  soon  as  it  is  seen  that  it  is  desired  by  the  Union 
men  of  the  South.  The  President,  in  my  judgment, 
expressed  more  clearly  the  sense  of  the  entire  nation 
in  his  proclamations  than  was  supposed  by  either  those 
who  most  applauded  or  those  who  denounced  the  act. 
The  pledge  which  he  gave  to  use  all  his  efforts  to  com 
pensate  the  loyal  owners  of  slaves,  which  was  ignored 
by  one  class  and  distrusted  by  the  other,  was,  in  my 
opinion,  the  pledge  of  the  nation,  and  will .  be  re 
deemed.  It  was  an  act  too  grand  and  noble  to  be 
stained  by  any  leaven  of  injustice  or  dishonesty. 

"  If  the  judgment  of  the  nation  in  condemning  sla 
very  as  the  cause  of  the  rebellion  is  correct,  and  I  am 
not  mistaken  in  the  belief  that  it  is  irrevocably  doomed 
to  destruction,  then  it  is  safe  to  assume  that  the  great 
obstacle  to  the  restoration  of  the  Union  has  been  sub 
stantially  removed,  and  that  as  our  victorious  armies 


388  LIFE    OF   FRANCIS    P.  BLAIR,  JR. 

advance,  driving  back  into  narrower  limits  the  organ 
ized  armies  of  the  rebels,  the  States  will  resume  their 
places  in  the  Union  which  has  rescued  them  from 
usurpation,  purged  by  their  own  consent  of  that  ele 
ment  which  alone  supplied  a  motive  for  disunion. 

"  I  am  well  aware  that  many  do  not  assent  to  this 
mode  of  settlement  for  our  difficulties  and  for  the  res 
toration  of  the  Union  ;  but  I  believe  that  this  is  the 
plan  which  the  people  have  resolved  upon,  and  which 
is  now  working  itself  out  in  spite  of  opposition  from 
men  of  ability  and  influence  who  take  a  different  view 
of  the  question.  The  President  has  unquestionably 
marked  out  this  policy,  and  in  so  doing  has  the  sanc 
tion  and  support  of  a  vast  majority  of  the  loyal  people 
of  the  country. 

"  The  discussion  upon  the  pending  resolution  has 
brought  out  very  distinctly  the  grounds  of  opposition 
to  this  policy,  and  disclosed  the  quarter  from  which 
that  opposition  conies.  The  proposition  is  simply  to 
repeal  the  joint  resolution  of  the  last  Congress,  by 
which  the  confiscation  of  landed  estates  of  persons  in 
rebellion  was  limited  to  the  life  of  the  offender ;  but  it 
makes  a  distinct  issue  with  the  President  upon  one 
point  of  the  policy  he  has  adopted  for  his  guidance, 
and  which  he  has  made  known  in  the  most  solemn 
and  authentic  .manner ;  and  the  debate  upon  it  has 
disclosed  a  determination  upon  the  part  of  leading  men 
of  his  own  party  to  make  an  issue  with  him  upon  all 
points  of  his  policy,  and  either  compel  him  to  yield  or 
to  divide  the  party  which  has  hitherto  supported  him. 

"  To  the  President  is  confided  the  whole  military 


CONFISCATION    DENOUNCED.  389 

ppwer  of  the  country  to  save  its  Government  from 
overthrow  by  rebellion.  Those  who  wage  war  to  ac 
complish  that  overthrow  commit  treason.  The  punish 
ment  for  that  crime  on  conviction  it  is  expressly  de 
clared  in  the  Constitution  shall  be  prescribed  by  Con 
gress  ;  but  it  is  provided  that  4  no  attainder  of  treason 
shall  work  corruption  of  blood,  or  forfeiture  except 
during  the  life  of  the  person  attainted.'1  Capital  pun 
ishment,  the  death  penalty,  in  this  as  in  other  countries, 
has  been  in  all  time  applied  to  treason.  The  head 
that  plots  and  attempts  the  destruction  of  the  Govern 
ment  is  always  forfeited  to  the  society  that  looks  to  its 
Government  for  preservation.  In  England  and  other 
monarchies  condemnation  for  treason  not  only  forfeits 
the  head  but  the  landed  as  well  as  personal  estate  of 
the  offender. 

"  This  visited  the  sin  of  the  traitor  upon  his  inno 
cent  heirs,  and  was  the  device  of  monarch s  to  hedge 
around  their  life  and  crown  by  superadding  to  the 
terror  in  conspirators  the  fear  of  sacrificing  the  digni 
ties,  influence,  and  wealth  of  their  posterity  by  the  loss 
of  inheritance,  imputing  it  to  corruption  of  blood  to 
degrade  a  race  and  name.  The  motives  of  monarchs 
prompting  such  unjust  and  cruel  inflictions  upon  blarne- 
•less  and  helpless  heirs  of  one  condemned  to  expiate  by 
jleath  the  offense  imputed  to  him  do  not  belong  to  our 
[Republic.  It  does  not,  like  the  crowned  head,  appre- 
|hend  that  the  stroke  of  an  assassin  may  terminate, 
with  one  life,  the  safety  and  peace  of  a  people.  Nor 
has  it  favorites  to  pamper  with  the  estates  of  victims 
whom  they  may  conspire  to  sacrifice  as  traitors  to  quiet 


390  LIFE    OF   FRANCIS    P.  BLAIR,  JR. 

the  fears  of  a  dynasty  into  whose  ear  they  whisper. 
Multitudes  of  illustrious  public  men  have  perished  and 
their  families  been  ruined  under  the  Governments  from 
which  our  laws  have  been  mainly  derived,  upon  con 
structive,  unfounded,  or  ill-proved  charges  of  treason, 
originating  in  the  desire  of  the  reigning  favorites  of 
the  court  to  destroy  those  whom  they  have  supplanted, 
and  to  create  suppprt  for  themselves  and  their  follow 
ers  by  the  confiscation  of  the  estates  of  rivals  whom 
their  intrigues  brought  to  the  block. 

Ci  It  was  these  horrid  tragedies  of  the  English  his 
tory  of  treasons  that  induced  the  authors  of  our  Con 
stitution  to  insert  so  precise  a  definition  of  treason ; 
and  in  providing  for  its  punishment  to  declare  'it 
should  not  work  corruption  of  blood,  or  forfeiture  ex 
cept  during  the  life  of  the  person  attained?  The  first 
act  of  Congress  passed  in  virtue  of  this  article  pre 
scribed  the  punishment  of  death  for  treason,  and  added 
the  exception  in  the  words  of  the  Constitution  in  su 
perabundant  caution  to  exclude  by  legislative  enact 
ment  the  consequence  of  a  condemnation  of  treason 
which  the  common  law  of  England  had  drawn  with  it 
as  a  part  of  the  code  of  our  country. 

"  The  Federalist — the  work  of  Jay,  Hamilton,  and 
Madison — a  more  authoritative  commentary  on  our 
Constitution  than  Blackstone's  on  the  laws  of  England, 
had  pointed  to  this  article  as  a  bar  to  such  Congres 
sional  interpretation  as  was  given  in  the  bill  submitted 
for  the  President's  approval  at  the  last  session.  It  was 
the  security  given  by  the  Constitution  to  save  the  un 
offending  heirs*of  condemned  criminals  from  that  for- 


CONFISCATION    DENOUNCED.  391 

feiture  of  estates  so  apt  to  be  voted  in  heated  party 
times  by  parliamentary  majorities,  and  so  the  sages  of 
the  Federalist  say  the  clause  meant  to  abate  the  mischief 
by  the  limitation  to  c  the  life  of  the  person  attainted.'' 

"  The  President  entertained  the  view  of  this  pro 
vision  sactioned  by  Congress  and  all  the  jurists  of  the 
country  up  to  the  passage  of  the  bill  presented  to  him 
by  the  last  Congress.  Then  he  was  constrained  to  ex 
press  the  opinion  contained  in  the  message  in  which  he 
communicated  his  reasons  for  approving  that  bill,  be 
cause  it  was  coupled  with  the  enactment  of  a  resolu 
tion  embodying  the  terms  of  the  constitutional  limita 
tion.  But  now  it  is  attempted  to  repeal  the  resolution 
which  adjusted  the  conflicting  views  of  the  executive 
and  legislative  departments  in  regard  to  the  confisca 
tion  act,  and  if  successful  in  Congress,  the  demand  is 
to  be  made  of  the  President  that  he  resign  his  consti 
tutional  convictions,  and  strike  from  the  law  what  he 
deemed  essential  to  make  it  compatible  with  the  Con 
stitution  and  his  oath  to  support  it.  And  how  is  this 
demand  justified  ?  There  stands  the  letter  and  spirit 
of  the  Constitution,  an  insurmountable  obstacle  to 
concession  on  the  part  of  the  President ;  but  the  new 
fangled  doctrinaries  seeing  the  hopelessness  of  strain 
ing  the  simple  terms  of  the  Constitution  to  justify 
the  extension  of  confiscation  'beyond  the  life  of  the 
person  attainted?  nevertheless  now  urge  expedients  to 

accomplish  that  object. 

*          *  *****£ 

"  The  House  will  bear  with  me  a  little,  while  I  ex 
amine  the  details  by  which  the  gentlemen  and  the 


392  LIFE    OF   FRANCIS    P.  BLAIR,  JR. 

President  reach  the  same  general  grounds  of  recon 
struction. 

u  The  gentleman  [Mr.  Stevens]  begins  by  asserting 
that  the  usurpers  have  by  force  of  arms  become  an  in 
dependent  power  de  facto.  The  gentleman  pretends 
that  the  President  has  acknowledged  the  rebels  as  bel 
ligerents  and  entitled  to  the  immunities  of  a  foreign 
Power  engaged  with  the  United  States  in  war. 

"  So  far  from  this  being  true,  the  President  has 
manifested  dissatisfaction  that  England  and  France 
have,  by  acknowledging  the  rebels  as  belligerents, 
favored  these  pirates,  although  at  the  same  time  they 
disavow  the  conclusion  drawn  from  it  by  the  gentleman 
from  Pennsylvania,  that  they  are  an  independent  and, 
as  regards  the  United  States,  a  foreign  power. 

"  The  gentleman  declares  the  confederates  out  of 
the  Union  and  not  subject  to  the  Constitution  and  the 
laws  of  the  United  States. 

"  The  President,  on  the  contrary,  holds  that  they 
are  in  the  Union  ;  that  he  will  hold  them  to  it,  as 
liable  to  all  the  penalties  of  treason,  under  the  form 
and  under  the  restrictions  prescribed  in  the  Constitu 
tion  and  laws. 

"The  gentleman  insists  that  the  heirs  of  rebels  can 
claim  no  interest  in  the  confiscated  estates  of  parents 
condemned  for  treason,  although  the  reversion  is  ex 
pressly  reserved  for  them  under  ^the  clause  of  the  Con 
stitution  that  the  punishment  under  condemnation  for 
treason  shall  not  extend  to  forfeiture  of  estates  except 
for  the  life  of  the  person  attainted. 

"  Per  contra,  the  President  holds  that  the  law  which 


CONFISCATION    DENOUNCED.  393 

passed  without  this  saving  clause  for  the  heirs  violated 
the  Constitution,  and  Congress  inserted  the  provision 
to  comply  with  his  opinion,  which  was  embodied  in  a 
message  to  the  House,  giving  his  sanction  to  the  modi 
fied  bill. 

u  Here  I  stop  a  moment  to  inquire  whether  the 
President  has,  i  after  careful  examination,  come  to  the 
conclusion '  to  retract  the  opinion  declared  in  this  mes 
sage.  If  not,  why  the  attempt  to  repeal  the  constitu 
tional  saving  inserted  in  the  act  by  the  last  Congress  ? 
It  looks  like  an  attempt  to  play  into  the  hand  of  some 
rival  who  would  array  a  party  against  the  President 
to  drive  him  to  surrender  his  convictions  and  break 
his  oath  to  support  the  Constitution,  or,  by  maintain 
ing  his  convictions  and  his  oath,  draw  on  the  embar 
rassment  of  an  opposition,  disappointed  of  their  scheme 
of  monopolizing  inheritances  at  the  expense  of  the 
public  interests.  Certainly  nothing  could  be  worse  for 
the  Government  and  the  masses  of  our  countrymen 
than  that  the  great  landed  estates  should  fall  again  into 
the  mortmain  of  great  capitalists.  By  being  divided 
up  in  small  lease-holds  among  the  laboring  soldiers  of 
the  war,  the  result  would  be  either  compromises  be 
tween  the  lease-holders  and  the  heirs  in  reversion — the 
first  giving  immediate  possession  of  a  part  of  his  hold 
ing  to  the  heir  as  a  price  for  the  fee  simple  of  what  he 
retained — or  the  lease-holder  during  the  life  of  the 
rebel  owner  forfeiting  it  would  realize  out  of  the  prod 
uct  of  his  tenement  means  to  purchase  a  freehold  of  a 
portion.  This  sort  of  division  between  industrious 
lease-holders  and  heirs  would  be  beneficial  to  both. 


394  LIFE    OF   FRANCIS    P.  BLAIR,  JR. 

The  one  would  be  stimulated  to  industry  and  economy, 
the  other  by  the  increased  value  imparted  to  the  prop 
erty  ultimately  returning  by  subdivision  among  a  mul 
titude  of  intelligent,  active,  thriving,  though  temporary 
owners,  who,  once  having  taken  root  in  the  soil,  would 
endeavor  by  utmost  effort  to  make  the  means  of  render 
ing  their  possession  permanent.  The  presence  of  such 
a  population  in  the  rich  lands  of  the  South  would  surely 
enhance  their  value.  The  forfeiting  rebel  refugee 
would  find  an  advantage  in  having  a  great  community 
interested  in  his  long  life,  which  would  result  probably 
in  arrangements  meliorating  his  condition. 

u  But  to  continue  the  details  which,  according  to 
the  speech  of  the  gentleman  from  Pennsylvania,  bring 
him  and  the  President  to  the  same  general  grounds  in 
closing  the  conflict. 

u  The  gentleman,  assuming  that  it  is  a  war  of  for 
eign  States,  adds  :  *  By  the  laivs  of  war  the  conqueror 
may  seize  and  convert  to  his  own  use  everything  that 
belongs  to  the  enemy  ^  and  by  the  enemy  he  says  ex 
pressly  he  means  every  man,  woman,  and  child  who 
now  remain  in  the  Confederate  States,  including  those 
who  are  loyal. 

"The  President  in  all  his  proclamations  touching 
this  subject  shows  that  he  holds  sacred  the  law  of 
nations  as  expounded  by  "Wheaton ;  confiscating  no 
lands  but  such  as  are  forfeited  by  treason  ;  no  personal 
property  even  in  virtue  of  conquest,  except  slaves,  who 
are  taken  from  the  hands  of  the  enemy  as  instru 
ments  of  warfare,  and  liberated  with  a  pledge  of  re 
muneration  to  loyal  owners  for  their  loss,  and  in- 


CONFISCATION   DENOUNCED.  395 

demnity  for  injuries  that  they  may  receive  from  our 
armies. 

uThe  gentleman  holds  that  the  State  governments 
now  under  the  usurpation,  although  recognized  and 
established  as  part  of  the  Union  by  the  Constitution 
and  the  laws  made  in  conformity  with  it,  are  '  abol 
ished,'1  and  c  we  may  hold  them  in  subjection  and  legis 
late  for  them  as  a  conquered  people? 

u  The  President  holds  no  such  .doctrine,  but  directly 
the  reverse.  He  looks  upon  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States,  and  the  constitutions  of  all  the  States 
heretofore  recognized  by  it,  as  still  subsisting,  all  uni 
ting  to  establish,  as  written  characters  and  muniments 
of  title,  a  right  to  that  eminent  domain  and  political 
supremacy  which  the  national  Government  holds  over 
this  whole  country.  The  President,  in  virtue  of  mili 
tary  power  which,  as  the  representative  of  the  supremacy 
of  the  United  States,  he  is  called  by  the  Constitution 
to  exert  to  save  it  and  the  Government,  the  State  con 
stitutions  and  their  governments,  has  struck  down 
slavery  in  certain  sections,  upon  the  principle  on  which 
the  enemies  of  these  States  and  constitutions  are  struck 
down  in  battle-fields.  What  has  thus  perished  in  the 
war,  ceases  to  be  a  part  of  the  institutions  which  have 
existence  sanctioned  by  any  Constitution,  State  or 
national.  The  President's  plan  of  reconstruction  takes 
this  ground  in  the  instructions  given  to  General  Steele 
to  carry  it  out  on  the, petition  of  the  people  of  Arkan 
sas.  In  that  instruction  he  lays  it  down  c  that  it  be 
assumed  at  the  election,'1  (proposed  by  the  people,)  ''and 
thenceforiuard,  that  the  Constitution  and  laws  of  the 


396  LIFE    OF   FRANCIS    P.  BLAIR,  JR. 

State  as  before  the  rebellion  are  in  full  force,  except 
that  the  Constitution  is  so  modified  as  to  declare  that 
there  shall  be  neither  slavery  nor  involuntary  servitude 
except  in  punishment  for  crimes  whereof  the  party  shall 
have  been  duly  convicted.1 

"  The  gentleman  asserts  that  '  it  is  mockery  to  say 
that  according  to  any  principle  of  popular  government 
yet  established  a  title  of  the  resident  inhabitants  of  an 
organized  $tate  can  change  its  form  and  carry  on  gov 
ernment  because  they  are  more  holy  or  more  loyal  than 
others.'' 

"The  President  holds  that  men  disloyal  and  hostile 
to  a  Government,  dishabilitated  by  the  commission  of 
treason  to  exercise  the  rights  of  citizens,  abdicate  their 
place  in  the  Government,  and  devolve  its  administration 
on  the  loyal  portion ;  and  he  has  ascertained  from  the 
precedents  in  the  State  governments  that  a  population 
equal  to  one-tenth  of  the  whole  number  existing  in  any 
State  are  adequate  to  its  administration.  He  there 
fore,  when  desired  by  them,  invites  elections  in  the 
several  States  freed  from  the  armies  of  the  rebellion, 
to  ascertain  whether  a  title  of  the  loyal  population 
remain  to  supersede  by  civil  government  under  the 
republican  constitutions  that  belong  to  them,  the  mili 
tary  administration  imposed  by  the  necessities  of  war. 

"The  gentleman  proposes  to  supersede  popular 
elections  by  the  loyal  people  of  a  State  to  renew  the 
action  of  their  republican  institutions,  by  the  Roman 
military  law  for  conquered  countries,  ''vce  mctisj  woe 
to  the  vanquished,  thus  ignoring  national  law  as  ame 
liorated  in  modern  times  among  civilized  Christian 


CONFISCATION    DENOUNCED.  397 

nations,  and  abolishing  the  State  governments  which 
the  President  by  his  oath  of  office  and  the  national 
Government  he  administers  is  bound  to  guarantee. 

u  The  President  on  his  part  resolves  to  respect  his 
own  and  the  good  faith  of  the  nation ;  he  recognizes 
the  existing  governments  held  in  abeyance  for  a  time 
by  rebel  arms,  the  rights  of  loyal  citizens  suffering 
under  them,  opens  to  all  such  access  to  the  blessings 
of  the  Union  through  a  renewal  of  their  allegiance,  and 
tendering  to  the  mass  of  those  who  were  forced  into 
the  rebel  ranks  by  the  betrayal  of  false  functionaries 
wielding  the  power  in  the  State  and  national  Govern 
ments  the  healing  measure  of  an  amnesty — the  felon 
conspirators  and  agitators,  the  authors  of  our  calami 
ties,  being  excluded. 

"The  gentleman  from  Pennsylvania  assumes  '  that 
if  you  were  to  liberate  every  slave  now,  and  then  re 
admit  them  as  free  States,  the  moment  they  had  acquired 
that  standing  they  would  reestablish  slavery  and  en 
slave  every  colored  man  within  their  limits? 

"The  President  denies  this;  holds  that  the  freed- 
men  are  under  the  protection  of  the  arm  to  which  they 
owe  their  liberties,  has  taken  the  precaution,  with  the 
sanction  of  Congress,  to  place  them  beyond  State  juris 
diction,  and  to  assure  them  in  the  meantime  of  a  safe 
guard  under  such  an  organization,  with  the  national 
force,  as  will  preclude  all  apprehension  of  the  danger 
suggested. 

"  This  parallel,  in  my  opinion,  is  a  fair  expose, 
showing  that  the  gentleman  looks  to  reconstruction  on 
quite  a  different  basis  from  that  of  the  President.  He 


398  LIFE    OF   FRANCIS    P.  BLAIR,  JR. 

admits  that  in  details  they  do  not  quite  agree,  but  as 
sumes  that  they  come  to  the  c  same  general  grounds  ; ' 
that  is,  that  fc  his  (the  President's)  plan  is  wholly  out 
side  of  and  unknoivn  to  the  Constitution."1  It  is  thus 
that  he  would  make  the  President  take  the  responsi 
bility  of  the  secession,  abolition,  absolute-conquest  doc 
trine  he  [Mr.  STEVENS]  broaches  in  defiance  of  national 
and  State  Constitutions,  the  law  of  the  civilized,  world, 
and  of  all  humanity.  I  take  iny  stand  on  the  Lincoln 
platform." 

Having  drawn  upon  himself  the  hostility  of  the  ex 
treme  Radicals  by  his  bold  denunciations  of  their  uncon 
stitutional  schemes,  General  Blair  soon  had  proof  that 
they  would  spare  no  effort  to  get  him  out  of  the  House. 
On  the  23d  of  March,  Mr.  McClurg,  of  Missouri, 
charged  him  with  having  abused  his  power  as  an  offi 
cer  of  the  army,  for  the  purpose  of  aiding  and  encour 
aging  unlawful  speculations.  He  promptly  denounced 
the  charge  as  a  base  and  miserable  falsehood,  and  pro 
nounced  its  author  "an  infamous  liar  and  scoundrel;" 
and  asked  for  a  committee  to  investigate  the  charge, 
with  power  to  send  for  persons  and  papers. 

A  Committee,  consisting  of  Messrs.  Higby,  Brutus 
J.  Clay,  and  Pruyri,  were  appointed  by  the  Speaker, 
and  the  matter  fully  investigated.  On  the  23d  of 
April,  the  Committee  made  their  report  to  the  House, 
fully  exonerating  Gen.  Blair  from  the  charge  brought 
against  him.  The  following  is  their  report: 

"  The  undersigned,  the  Special  Committee  appoint 
ed  under  the  resolution  of  the  House  of  the  23d  of 
March  last  to  investigate  the  charge  made  by  Hon.  J. 


REPORT   OF    THE    COMMITTEE.  399 

W.  McClurg,  a  member  of  the  House  from  the  State 
of  Missouri,  against  Hon.  F.  P.  Blair,  Jr.,  also  a 
member  of  the  House  from  the  same  State,  '  of  vio 
lating  the  laws  in  the  matter  of  an  alleged  liquor  spec 
ulation,  and  to  inquire  into  the  genuineness  or  falsity 
of  the  alleged  order  for  the  purchase  of  liquor,  bearing 
date  June  3,  1863,'  respectfully  report  that  they  have 
had  the  matter  so  referred  to  them  under  investigation 
from  an  early  day  after  their  appointment,  and  have 
given  full  opportunity  to  both  parties  to  produce  wit 
nesses  before  them,  and  taken  all  the  testimony  offered 
on  the  subject.  The  depositions  of  the  witnesses  thus 
examined  are  herewith  submitted  to  the  House. 

"  It  appeared  satisfactorily  in  evidence  before  the 
Committee  that  on  the  3d  day  of  June,  1863,  Hon.  F. 
P.  Blair,  Jr.,  then  being  a  major-general  in  the  Army 
of  the  United  States  in  actual  service  near  Vicksburg, 
in  the  State  of  Mississippi,  together  with  eight  mem 
bers  of  his  staff,  signed  a  written  order  or  authority  to 
one  Michael  Powers,  representing  himself  to  be  an 
agent  of  the  Treasury  Department,  and  who  had  offered 
his  services  for  the  purpose,  to  procure  for  their  own 
use  a  very  moderate  amount  of  liquors,  tobacco,  and 
cigars,  the  cost  of  which,  in  the  language  of  one  of  the 
witnesses,  (Captain  Maguire,)  'certainly  would  not 
exceed  one  hundred  and  fifty  or  one  hundred  and  sev 
enty-five  dollars.' 

u  This  order,  as  it  appeared  before  the  Committee, 
was  altered  after  it  was  delivered  to  Powers,  by  adding 
to  and  changing  the  figures,  and  also  by  adding  at  least 
one  new  item,  (twenty-five  boxes  can-fruits,)  to  such  an 


400  LIFE    OF   FRANCIS    P.  BLAIR,  JR. 

extent  that  the  invoice  on  the  purchase  of  the  articles 
in  St.  Louis,  and  a  permit  for  which  was  granted  by 
the  collector,  amounted  to  $8,651.  As  a  specimen  of 
the  alterations  one  may  be  referred  to,  that  as  to 
brandy.  The  original  order  was  for  five  gallons ;  by 
inserting  the  figure  2  before  the  figure  5,  and  adding 
the  word  '  each,1  it  became  an  order  (as  nine  persons 
had  signed  it)  for  two  hundred  and  twenty-five  gallons. 
The  alterations  which  the  Committee  believe,  from  the 
testimony  taken  before  them,  to  have  been  made  in  the 
order,  will  be  seen  on  reference  to  schedule  A  hereto 
annexed,  which  contains  a  copy  of  the  existing  order, 
and  a  statement  at  the  foot  thereof  of  the  articles  named 
in  the  original  order  as  nearly  as  the  Committee  can 
determine  from  the  evidence  before  them,, 

"  As  to  the  question  by  whom  these  alterations 
were  made,  the  Committee  refer  particularly  to  the 
depositions  of  Mr.  Powers  and  Mr.  Howard,  which 
are  among  those  herewith  submitted.  Judging  from 
all  the  circumstances,  they  were  probably  made  for  the 
purpose  of  realizing  a  profitable  speculation  under 
cover  of  the  original  order.  That  they  were  made  by 
Powers,  there  cannot  from  the  testimony  be  any  rea 
sonable  doubt. 

"  At  the  time  the  order  was  delivered  to  Powers, 
there  was  no  law  or  military  regulation  in  any  way 
prohibiting  it. 

"The  Committee  are  therefore  of  the  opinion,  and 
do  report,  that  no  violation  of  law  was  committed  in 
the  premises  by  General  Blair,  and  that  the  original 
order  was  altered  and  falsified  after  it  had  passed  from 


GEN.  BLAIR    EXONERATED.  401 

his  possession  and  control,  in,  the  manner  hereinbefore 
stated. 

"  The  undersigned,  the  chairman  of  the  Committee, 
for  himself  deems  it  proper  to  state  that  the  replies  of 
Mr.  Blair  in  the  House  to  the  charges  of  Mr.  McClurg, 
all  of  which  have  been  under  investigation  before  the 
Committee,  are  not  sustained  by  the  evidence,  except 
as  to  his  denial  of  being  engaged  in  a  liquor  specula 
tion,  and  of  the  genuineness  of  the  order  in  question. 
In  this  statement  the  other  members  of  the  Committee 
do  not  concur — the  member  from  Kentucky  for  jbhe 
reason  that  his  conclusions  from  the  testimony  are  the 
opposite  of  those  of  the  chairman ;  and  the  member 
from  New  York  (who  was  absent  while  most  of  this 
part  of  the  evidence  was  taken)  for  the  reason  that  he 
does  not  consider  the  subject  embraced  in  the  resolu 
tion  appointing  the  Committee,  and  that  they  are  not^ 
in  his  judgment,  called  on  to  express  any  opinion  in 
regard  to  it. 

"The  Committee  having  thus  completed  the  duties 
assigned  to  them,  respectfully  ask  to  be  discharged 
from  the  further  consideration  of  the  subject. 

"WM.  HIGBY,  Chairman. 
"  BRUTUS  J.  CLAY, 
"  JOHN  V.  L.  PRUYN." 

Upon  the  presentation  of  this  report,  General  Blair 
addressed  the  House  at  some  length.  The  statement 
made  by  him  was  as  follows  : 

"  Mr.  Speaker,  I  am  as  loth  as  any  other  member 
to  consume  the  time  so  necessary  far  the  public  busi- 
26 


402  LIFE    OF   FRANCIS    P.  BLAIR,  JR. 

ness,  but  the  use  which  has  been  made  of  this  affair  is 
of  such  an  extraordinary  character,  so  malicious  and 
unjust  to  me,  that  I  have  been  compelled  to  appeal  to 
my  fellow-members  for  the  privilege  of  making  a  few 
observations,  and  to  ask  their  indulgent  attention  at 
this  time. 

"  It  is  shown  by  the  report  which  has  just  been 
read  in  your  hearing,  that  when  this  c  forgery 1  was 
committed  I  was  in  the  service  of  the  country,  and  in 
the  trenches  before  Vicksburg,  using  my  utmost  efforts 
for  the  preservation  of  our  country  and  to  beat  down 
its  enemies.  When  it  was  made  public  and  circulated 
far  and  wide  in  the  newspapers  for  the  purpose  of  des 
troying  my  reputation,  I  was  again  absent  from  my 
home  and  in  command  of  the  Fifteenth  Army  Corps, 
leading  its  gallant  soldiers  on  the  march  from  Mem 
phis  to  Chattanooga,  to  share  in  that  memorable  con 
flict  which  drove  Bragg  from  his  stronghold  on  the 
heights  of  Lookout  Mountain  and  Missionary  Ridge, 
and  afterwards  to  the  relief  of  our  beleaguered  army 
at  Knoxville. 

"  I  hope  it  will  not  be  regarded  as  indelicate  or 
improper  for  me,  under  the  circumstances  in  which  I 
have  been  placed  by  this  gross  and  unjust  aspersion 
and  the  consequences  which  followed,  to  allude  to  the 
fact  that  I  was  assigned  to  that  command  by  General 
Sherman,  whose  corps  it  was,  until  he  was  promoted 
to  the  command  of  the  army  and  department  of  the 
Tennessee,  and  that  after  that  most  eventful  campaign 
of  inarches  and  battles,  as  glorious  as  any  recorded  in 
our  military  annals,  I  was  complimented  in  general 


A    PERSONAL    EXPLANATION.  403 

orders,  and  received  the  thanks  of  my  commanding 
general  for  the  manner  in  which  I  had  handled  the 
corps ;  yet,  at  the  end  of  that  campaign,  I  found  my 
self  superseded  in  the  command. 

"  No\v,  sir,  if  the  allegation  which  had  been  made 
against  me,  when  absent  and  in  the  service,  had  been 
true,  it  would  have  formed  a  just  ground  for  iny  re 
moval.  I  should  have  been  unfit  to  command  any 
portion  of  the  gallant  and  patriotic  troops  of  my 
country. 

"  Finding  myself  superseded  in  a  command  of  which 
I  was  so  justly  proud,  and  unconscious  of  having  com 
mitted  any  offense  which  should  have  subjected  me  to 
such  a  mortification,  I  came  here  to  resume  my  seat 
in  this  House,  to  which  I  had  been  returned  by  a  con 
fiding  constituency,  and  which  I  had  left  eighteen 

o  •/  '  O 

months  before,  at  the  solicitation  of  the  Administra 
tion,  to  raise  and  command  troops  for  the  defense  of 
the  country.  But  the  malignity  of  those  who  had  ori 
ginated  arid  propagated  this  atrocious  slander  against 
me  was  not  satisfied  with  the  humiliation  I  had  suf 
fered  in  the  loss  of  my  command  ;  it  pursued  me  into 
this  House.  The  House  will  remember  the  occasion 
when  a  member  from  my  own  State  arose  and  reitera 
ted  this  calumny.  I  repelled  it  at  the  time  in  language 
decorous  and  parliamentary,  so  far  as  the  member  him 
self  was  concerned,  not  knowing  but  that  he  had  been 
misled  by  those  who  had  originated  and  circulated  the 
slander,  but  at  the  same  time  denouncing  it  as  a  for 
gery,  perpetrated  by  a  person  in  the  employ  of  the 
Treasury  Department,  who  had  himself  since  admitted 


404  LIFE    OF   FRANCIS    P.  BLAIR,  JR. 

that  the  order  was  altered  and  was  therefore  a  forgery, 
and  that  it  was  printed  in  a  newspaper  which  was  pen 
sioned  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury.  The  gentle 
man,  or,  rather,  the  member  who  made  that  allegation 
at  that  time,  having  my  denial  before  him,  having  the 
admission  of  the  Treasury  agent,  Bonner,  having  the 
published  declaration  of  the  surveyor  of  the  port  of 
St.  Louis,  Mr.  Howard,  pronouncing  it  a  forgery,  and 
also  having  the  paper  in  his  hand  which  showed  pal 
pably  upon  its  face  that  it  had  been  altered,  came 
into  this  House  to  renew  that  allegation  upon  a  sub 
sequent  occasion,  and  with  that  coarseness  and  bruta 
lity  which  is  characteristic  of  vulgar  minds — * 
-x-  #  #  #  #  #  #  & 

"  I  say,  sir,  that  this  member  was  not  content  to 
reassert  the  charge  against  me  of  having  violated  the 
laws  of  the  country,  and  of  prostituting  the  office  I  held 
in  the  service  of  the  country  for  the  purpose  of  specu 
lation,  but  he  did  it  in  an  insulting  and  irritating  man 
ner,  and  made  every  effort  to  provoke  me,  in  the  man 
ner  in  which  he  brought  it  to  the  attention  of  the 

o 

House  ;  and  upon  that  occasion,  I  say  again,  I  felt 
myself  so  indignant  at  the  charge  made,  and  at  the 
manner  in  which  it  was  made  by  that  member,  that  I 
found  it  impossible  to  restrain  myself,  and  used  lan 
guage  for  which  I  am  willing  to  apologize  to  the  House, 
but  for  which  I  shall  never  apologize  to  him. 

"  Sir,  he  had  the  forged  order  photographed,  and 
brought  it  thus  prepared  for  circulation  to  the  atten 
tion  of  the  House,  and  proclaimed  that  he  was 

*  The  Speaker  at  this  point  called  Gen.  Blair  to  order. 


A    SHARP   REPLY.  405 

ready  to  distribute  them,  and  that  others  could 
be  had  cheaply  at  the  photographing  establishment 
at  which  it  was  taken.  I  do  not  know  where  that 
photograph  was  made — whether  it  was  in  the  Treas 
ury  Department  or  not.  I  believe  they  have  ma 
chinery  of  that  kind  there.  It  is  not  the  first  time  in 
the  history,  of  the  world  in  which  the  fine  arts  have 
been  prostituted  to  this  base  and  ignoble  purpose,  that 
of  perpetuating  and  disseminating  counterfeits.  I  con 
gratulate  myself,  however,  that  while  the  art  of  photo 
graphing  has  been  applied  to  such  purposes,  it  has  also 
been  made  useful  in  the  detection  of  the  rogues,  crim 
inals,  and  counterfeiters  who  have  basely  prostituted 
the  art.  You  can  find,  sir,  in  any  of  the  police  offices 
of  the  country  a  '  rogue's  gallery,1  in  which  the  effigies 
of  those  eminent  for  their  crimes  and  rascalities  are 
exposed  for  the  purpose  of  re-cognition  and  detection. 
I  intend  following  that  suggestion,  to  enlarge  upon  the 
idea.  I  will  have  that  '  order  '  re-photographed,  and 
I  will  have  it  decorated  and  garnished  with. the  por 
traits  of  the  forgers  and  disseminators  of  the  forgery, 
so  as  to  perpetuate  their  memories  and  villainies  in 
connection  with  this  specimen  of  their  art. 

"  Now,  sir,  it  is  not  my  purpose  to  follow  these 
men  who  have  been  guilty  of  this  baseness  toward  me 
any  further.  These  dogs  have  been  set  on  me  by  their 
master,  and  since  I  have  whipped  them  back  into  their 
kennel,  I  mean  to  hold  their  master  responsible  for  this 
outrage  and  not  the  curs  who  have  been  set  upon  me. 
The  evidence,  sir,  shows  that  this  forgery  was  made 
public  by  a  Treasury  agent  who  knew  at  the  time  that 


406  LIFE    OF   FRANCIS   P.  BLAIR,  JR. 

he  made  it  public,  that  I  had  no  interest  whatever  in 
the  goods  covered  by  the  order  ;  who  knew  it  so  well 
that  the  goods  having  been  seized  he  turned  them  over 
to  their  proper  owner,  because  there  was  no  ground 
for  their  seizure  and  confiscation.  He  turned  them 
over  to  the  man  who  appeared  on  the  paper  to  own 
them,  and  yet  he  retained  in  his  hand  this  paper,  to 
which  he  had  no  right,  and  gave  it  out  for  publication 
after  I  had  been  assailed  in  the  newspapers  of  my  city, 
for  speculating  in  this  whisky.  He  gave  it  out  for  pub 
lication  after  he  knew  the  facts  of  the  case  and  had  had 
his  attention  called  to  them,  because  I  had  attacked  Mr. 
Chase  in  a  speech  in  St.  Louis  and  assailed  his  trade 
regulation.  So,  sir,  if  any  officer  of  the  Army,  or 
any  member  of  Congress,  or  any  gentleman  feels 
sufficient  interest  in  public  affairs,  and  in  the  honest 
conduct  of  public  business  to  assail  in  a  public  speech 
its  management  in  the  Treasury  and  the  operation 
of  Treasury  regulations,  he  lays  himself  open  to  as 
saults  frpm  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  and  all  the 
hounds  and  dogs  that  he  can  set  upon  him.  and  he  is 
to  be  hunted  and  dragged  down  by  false  charges  and 
by  forgery. 

u  It  is  for  the  House  to  decide  whether  one  of  its 
members,  in  the  face  of  the  facts  which  were  brought 
to  his  knowledge  when  he  first  made  these  charges  on 

o  o 

this  floor,  shall  be  permitted  to  reiterate  in  a  manner 
so  gross  and  offensive  that  which  he  utterly  failed  to 
substantiate  when  put  to  the  test,  and  escape  without 
censure.  It  is  for  the  members  of  the  House  to  decide 
whether  such  a  person  is  worthy  of  association  with 
them  or  not. 


A    BOLD    SPEECH.  407 

"  When  1  resumed  my  seat  in  this  House,  I  felt 
myself  constrained  by  a  sense  of  duty  to  my  constitu 
ents  to  ask  for  a  committee  to  investigate  the  manner 
in  which  the  'regulations  of  trade1  with  the  States  in 

o 

insurrection  have  been  carried  out  by  the  Secretary  of 
the  Treasury.  But  it  seems  that  the  Secretary's  friends 
had  not  the  same  confidence  in  a  committee  of  Con 
gress  as  I  have  shown,  for  when  I  asked  for  a  com 
mittee  to  investigate  the  charges  which  had  been  made 
against  the  Secretary,  of  sacrificing  a  vast  public  in 
terest  to  advance  his  ambition,  his  friends  upon  this 
floor  refused  it,  and  I  was  assailed  in  all  the  news 
papers  of  the  country  with  having  made  that  allega 
tion  against  the  Secretary  because  he  had  stopped  my 
'  liquor  speculation.' 

"  Now,  Mr.  Speaker,  permit  me  to  say  that  when 
the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  was  advanced  to  his 
present  position,  although  my  good  wishes  were  worth 
nothing  to  him  at  the  time,  yet  he  had  them.  I  was 
in  favor  of  his  appointment.  As  a  matter  of  course, 
that  was  of  very  little  consequence  so  far  as  his  ap 
pointment  was  concerned,  yet  it  is  a  fact  well  known. 
It  is  of  consequence  simply  so  far  as  it  shows  that  I 
was  not  inimical  at  that  time  to  the  Secretary.  The 
reason  of  my  change  of  sentiment  toward  him  was,  that 
E  understood  that  he  had  authorized  the  Mayor  of  Bal 
timore  to  proclaim  on  the  streets  of  that  city,  on  the 
19th  of  April,  that  he  was  in  favor  of  letting  the  States 
in  rebellion  c  go  in  peace,'  and  because  I  also  took  this 
impression  from  the  tenor  of  his  conversation  that  it 
was  his  opinion  and  wish  that  they  should  be  allowed 


408  LIFE    OF   FRANCIS    P.  BLAIR,  JR. 

to  go  in  peace.  I  understood  the  same  thing  from  the 
publications  made  by  newspapers  in  his  own  State 
which  were  regarded  as  expressing  his  sentiments. 
The  allegation  was  made  that  such  was  his  position, 
and  it  was  never  denied  by  him.  It  was  accepted  as 
a  fact  by  all. 

"  I  know,  and  lie  ivill  not  deny  his  written  and  re- 
cwded  opinion,  that  he  was  opposed  to  the  reinforce 
ment  of  Fort  Sumter.  I  knew  that  after  Fort  Su inter 
had  fallen,  he  had  opposed  the  calling  out  of  a  large 
and  sufficient  force  to  put  down  the  rebellion,  and 
although  he  and  others  of  the  men  of  his  party  and 
my  party  then  (but  I  hold  no  party  relations  then  or 
now  with  peace  men)  were  compelled  by  the  war  cry 
that  went  up  after  the  fall  of  Sumter  to  abandon  appa 
rently  their  peace  position.  Yet  Mr.  Chase,  I  soon 
found,  never  really  abandoned  his  determination  to 
cut  off  the  Southern  States.  On  the  contrary,  he  has 
endeavored  to  work  out,  by  another  programme,  the 
very  thing  he  was  then  in  favor  of  doing — of  letting 
the  South  go.  He  is  now  for  making  them  go,  so  far 
as  their  condition  as  States  is  concerned.  He  is  un 
willing  that  they  should  ever  return  to  interfere  with 
his  presidential  aspirations. 

"Why,  Sir,  it  was  perfectly  understood  in  the 
second  session — the  long  session — of  the  last  Congress, 
that  he  favored  the  annihilation  of  the  State  Govern 
ments  of  the  South.  His  friends  in  both  Houses 
made  that  proposition ;  those  who  had  the  most  inti 
mate  relations  with  him  in  both  Houses  made  that 
proposition.  And  it  is  pressed  in  this  House  again 


A   SCATHING    REBUKE.  409 

this  winter  in  a  disguised  and  insidious  form,  and  un 
der  the  pretentious  title  of  4  reconstruction/  but  which 
is  in  fact  intended  for  the  destruction  of  those  States  ; 
but  this  being  the  very  crime  of  which  the  rebels  in 
arms  are  guilty,  and  which  the  gentleman  from  Ohio 
[Mr.  Ashley]  charges  upon  them,  it  is  thought  con 
venient  to  give  the  operation  another  name.  The  bill 
reported  by  the  distinguished  gentleman  from  Mary 
land  [Mr.  Davis],  representing  the  committee  on  the 
rebellious  States,  which,  by  the  way,  is  composed  to  a 
considerable  extent  of  the  Pomeroy  private  circular 
committee,  for  I  understand  that  the  gentlemen  from 
Maryland  [Mr.  Davis],  from  Ohio  [Mr.  Ashley],  and 
from  Missouri  [Mr.  Blow],  are  members  of  both  these 
committees,  is  a  bill  which  could  very  properly  have 
come  from  the  Pomeroy  committee.  It  is  a  bill  which 
should  have  been  entitled  i  a  bill  for  the  permanent 
dissolution  of  the  Union,  to  disfranchise  the  whites 
and  enfranchise  the  negroes,  to  prevent  any  of  the 
States  from  coming  back  in  time  to  vote  for  Mr.  Lin 
coln  for  President,  and  to  promote  the  ambition  of  the 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury/  It  is  a  bill  which  requires 
the  consent  of  Congress  for  the  readmission  of  any  of 
these  States  to  the  Union. 

"  The  gentlemen  proceed  in  their  disfranchising  bill 
upon  the  pretext  that  the  usurpation  of  the  rebels  for 
the  hour  has  destroyed  the  States,  or  that  the  forces 
of  the  United  States  sent  to  drive  out  arid  overthrow 
the  rebel  power  which  held  the  State  and  national 
Governments  in  the  South  alike  in  abeyance,  are  to  be 
considered  conquering  forces,  extinguishing  the  local 


410  LIFE    OF    FRANCIS    P.  BLAIR,  JR. 

constitutions  the  nation  is  bound  to  guaranty.  Look 
ing  to  the  root  of  the  matter,  the  cause  of  all  our  dis 
asters,  proves  that  instead  of  considering  the  State 
Governments  abolished,  Congress  would  best  perform 
its  functions  by  amending  the  Constitution  of  the  Uni 
ted  States  itself,  so  as  to  eradicate  slavery  from  our 
whole  system.  This  simple  remedy,  which  can  be  at 
tained  by  adhering  to  the  forms  of  the  Constitution 
itself,  supersedes  the  revolutionary  schemes  of  those 
who  would  convert  the  States  into  Territories  and 
assert  absolutism  over  them  in  regard  to  their  future 
admission  into  the  Union.  The  founders  of  the  Gov 
ernment  saw  the  lurking  evil  in  admitting  the  slave- 
tolerating  clause  in  the  Constitution  ;  they  foretold  its 
fatal  tendency.  Our  present  Chief  Magistrate,  before 
he  was  thought  of  for  the  place  he  held,  predicted  that 
this  Government  4  could  not  endure  permanently  half 
free  and  half  slave.'  And  can  there  be  a  better  solu 
tion  of  the  danger  than  that  furnished  by  the  Senate's 
bill  incorporating  Jefferson's  ordinance  of  freedom  with 
the  fundamental  law  of  the  nation  ?  Is  it  not  better 
than  disfranchising  States  and  robbing  loyal  men  of 
their  rights,  putting  them  on  a  footing  with  rebels 
already  disfranchised  by  their  bloody  treason  ?  Our 
soldiers  invoke  the  loyal  citizens  of  the  South  to  join 
their  ranks,  and  patriots  everywhere  would  call  on  the 
loyalists  of  the  South  to  renew  the  glorious  association 
of  free  States  of  the  North  and  South  by  joining  with 
its  armed  deliverers  in  the  reelection  of  the  man  who 
first  organized  free  government  over  our  whole  coun 
try,  and  has  thus  earned  the  high  privilege  of  inaugu- 


MESSAGE  FROM  THE  PRESIDENT.         411 

rating  the  renewed  and  most  auspicious  career  of  the 
Union." 

Having  thus  vindicated  himself  from  the  asper 
sions  of  his  enemies,  Gen.  Blair  resigned  his  seat  in 
the  House,  and  sought  a  command  in  the  field.  His 

o 

enemies  having  been  foiled  in  their  efforts  to  injure 
him  in  the  House,  now  tried  to  destroy  his  influence 
in  the  army.  On  the  25th  of  April,  Mr.  Dawes,  of 
Massachusetts,  offered  the  following  resolution  in  the 
House : 

"Resolved,  That  the  President  be  requested  to 
communicate  to  this  House  whether  the  Hon.  Francis 
P.  Blair,  Jr.,  representing  the  first  congressional  dis 
trict  of  Missouri  in  the  present  House,  now  holds  any 
appointment  or  commission  in  the  military  service  of 
the  United  States  ;  and  if  so,  what  that  appointment 
or  commission  is,  and  when  the  said  Blair  accepted  the 
same,  and  whether  he  is  now  acting  under  the  authority 
of  any  such  appointment  or  commission." 

In  response  to  this  resolution,  Mr.  Lincoln,  on  the 
28th,  sent  to  the  House  the  following  message  stating 
General  Blair's  action  in  the  case : 
u  To  the  House  of  Representatives  : 

"In  obedience  to  a  resolution  of  your  honorable 
body,  a  copy  of  which  is  hereby  returned,  I  have  the 
honor  to  make  the  following  brief  statement,  which  is 
believed  to  contain  the  information  sought : 

"  Prior  to,  and  at  the  meeting  of  the  present  Con 
gress,  Robert  C.  Schenck,  of  Ohio,  and  Frank  P. 
Blair,  Jr.,  of  Missouri,  members  elect  thereto,  by  and 
with  the  consent  of  the  Senate  held  commissions  from 


412  LIFE    OF   FRANCIS    P.  BLAIR,  JR. 

the  Executive  as  major  generals  in  the  volunteer  army. 
General  Schenck  tendered  the  resignation  of  his  said 
commission  and  took  his  seat  in  the  House  of  Repre 
sentatives  at  the  assembling  thereof,  upon  the  distinct 
verbal  understanding  with  the  Secretary  of  War  and 
the  Executive  that  he  might,  at  any  time  during  the 
session,  at  his  own  pleasure,  withdraw  said  resignation 
and  return  to  the  field.  General  Blair  was,  by  tem 
porary  agreement  with  General  Sherman,  in  command 
of  a  corps  through  the  battles  in  front  of  Chattanooga, 
and  in  the  march  to  the  relief  of  Knoxville,  which  oc 
curred  in  the  latter  days  of  December  last,  and  of 
course  was  not  present  at  the  assembling  of  Congress. 
When  he  subsequently  arrived  here,  he  sought  and 
was  allowed  by  the  Secretary  of  War  and  the  Execu 
tive  the  same  conditions  and  promise  as  allowed  and 
made  to  General  Schenck.  General  Schenck  has  not 
applied  to  withdraw  his  resignation,  but  when  General 
Grant  was  made  lieutenant-general,  producing  some 
change  of  commanders,  General  Blair  sought  to  be  as- 

O  *  O 

signed  to  command  of  a  corps.  This  was  made  known 
to  Generals  Grant  and  Sherman,  and  assented  to  by 
them,  and  the  particular  corps  for  him  designated.  This 
was  all  arranged  and  understood,  as  now  remembered, 
as  much  as  a  month  ago ;  but  the  withdrawal  of  Gen 
eral  Blair's  resignation,  and  making  the  order  assign 
ing  him  to  the  command  of  a  corps,  were  not  consum 
mated  at  the  War  Department  until  last  week,  perhaps 
on  the  23d  of  April,  instant.  As  a  summary  of  the 
whole,  it  may  be  stated  that  General  Blair  holds  no 
military  commission  or  appointment  other  than  herein 


A   NEW    COMMISSION.  413 

stated,  and  that  it  is  believed  lie  is  now  acting  as  major 
general  upon  the  assumed  validity  of  the  commission 
herein  stated,  arid  not  otherwise.  There  are  some  let 
ters,  notes,  telegrams,  orders,  entries,  and  perhaps 
other  documents,  in  connection  with  this  subject,  which 
it  is  believed  would  throw  no  additional  light  upon  it, 
but  which  will  be  cheerfully  furnished  if  desired. 
"  April  28,  1864.  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN." 

This  plain  statement  of  the  President  showed  that 
Gen.  Blair's  course  had  been  both  straightforward  and 
patriotic,  and  the  malice  of  his  enemies  resolved  itself 
to  a  resolution  that  Gen.  Blair,  by  reason  of  holding 
a  military  commission  was  not  legally  qualified  to  serve 
as  a  member  of  the  House.  Gen.  Blair,  however, 
having  several  months  before  the  passage  of  this  reso 
lution,  voluntarily  returned  to  the  field,  had  practically 
resigned  his  seat  in  the  House.  The  intrigues  and  plots 
of  Congress  had  no  charms  for  him,  and  he  preferred 
an  open  conflict  with  a  manly  foe  to  the  pitiful  encoun 
ters  of  the  House.  The  malice  of  his  enemies  gave 
him  no  concern,  arid  their  shafts  fell  harmless  from  the 
triple  armor  of  his  own  rectitude. 

President  Lincoln,  however,  seeing  that  General 
Blair's  enemies  were  willing  that  the  country  should 
lose  his  services  in  order  that  their  own  malice  might 
be  gratified,  resolved  to  place  the  General's  military 
position  upon  a  more  assured  footing,  and  accordingly 
renominated  him  to  be  Major-General  of  Volunteers, 
which  nomination  was  confirmed  by  the  Senate  by  a 
bare  majority  of  two  or  three,  so  strongly  was  that 
body  biassed  by  partisanship. 


CHAPTER  V. 

General  Bla'r  returns  to  the  Field — ]>  given  Command  of  the  Seventeenth 
Corps  in  Sherman's  Aiiny — The  Adv;;n<  e  to  Dalton — Alntoona  Pass 
— Kenesaw  Mountain — The  Capture  of  Atlanta — A  Hard  Campa:gn 
— The  Pursuit  of  Hood — "The  March  to  the  Sea  "—Army  Sketch 
of  Gener.-il  Blair — Details  of  the  March — The  Occupation  of  Savan- 
nnh — The  Seventeenth  Corps  transferred  to  Hilton  Head — Blair's 
Midwinter  March — The  Occupa'ion  of  Columbia — The  March  through 
the  Cnrolinas — Occupation  of  Fayettevillf — Battle  of  Bentonville — 
Surrender  of  General  Johnston — The  March  to  Washington — The 
Great  Review — General  Blair  resigns  his  Commission. 

GENERAL  BLAIR  returned  to  the  field  in  March,  1864, 
and  was  assigned  the  command  of  the  Seventeenth 
Army  Corps,  in  Sherman's  Army.  By  this  time  Gen 
eral  Grant  had  been  made  lieutenant-general,  and 
had  been  assigned  the  chief  command  of  the  armies 
of  the  Union,  and  had  taken  immediate  charge  of  the 
operations  in  Virginia,  and  Sherman  had  been  placed 
in  command  of  the  Military  Division  of  the  Missis 
sippi.  Sherman's  force  in  the  field  consisted  of  three 
combined  armies,  namely,  the  Army  of  the  Ohio,  under 
Major-General  John  M.  Schofield,  the  Army  of  the 
Cumberland,  under  Major-General  George  H.  Thomas, 
and  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee,  under  Major-General 
McPherson.  The  Seventeenth  Corps  formed  a  part 
of  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee,  and  during  the  early 
winter  and  spring  was  quartered  in  and  around  Hunts- 
ville,  Alabama.  The  entire  army  under  General  Sher- 


THE    PLAN    OF    CAMPAIGN.  415 

man's  command  numbered  ninety  eight  thousand  eight 
hundred  men,  together  with  two  hundred  and  fifty-four 
pieces  of  artillery. 

The  task  assigned  to  General  Sherman  was  of  the 
highest  importance.  The  war  had  been  reduced  to  a 
struggle  at  two  prominent  points  —  Virginia  and 
Georgia — and  while  Grant  had  reserved  to  himself  the 
management  of  affairs  in  the  East,  he  gave  to  Sherman 
the  largest  discretion  in  the  direction  of  the  campaign 
in  the  Southwest.  Sherman's  part  in  the  great  pro 
gramme  for  closing  the  war,  was  to  defeat  Johnston's 
army,  capture  Atlanta,  and  drive  the  Confederates 
away  from  their  rich  granaries  in  northern  Georgia. 
If  successful  in  this,  he  expected  to  be  able  to  render 
valuable  service  in  compelling  the  South  to  submit  to 
the  authority  of  the  Union.  The  results  of  the  cam 
paign  show  that  his  convictions  were  founded  upon 
sound  reasoning.  The  movements  in  Georgia  were  to 
be  simultaneous  with  those  in  Virginia,  and  on  the  27th 
of  April,  1864,  orders  were  issued  for  the  concentra 
tion  before  Chattanooga  of  all  the  troops  which  were 
to  take  part  in  the  campaign,  and  by  the  Gth  of  May, 
Sherman's  whole  army  was  disposed  along  the  border 
of  Georgia,  directly  in  front  of  Dalton. 

The  Confederate  army,  forty  thousand  nine  hundred 
strong,  under  the  command  of  General  Joseph  E. 
Johnston,  was  posted  around  Dalton,  along  the  line 
of  the  Chattanooga  and  Atlanta  Railway.  It  was 
Johnston's  plan  to  rec'n force  his  army  from  other  points 
farther  South,  and  take  the  initiative,  but  his  Govern 
ment  hampered  him  by  its  folly  and  weakness  until 


416  LIFE    OF   FRANCIS    P.  BLAIR,  JR. 

Sherman's   action   compelled  him  to  'assume  the  de 
fensive. 

Between  the  Confederate  position  and  that  held  by 
General  Sherman  there  lay  an  impracticable  range  of 
mountains,  called  Rocky  Face  Ridge,  which  was  pass 
able  only  at  Buzzard's  Roost  Gap,  a  narrow  mountain 
pass,  through  which  ran  the  railroad  to  Atlanta  and  a 
stream  called  Mill  Creek.  The  enemy  had  fortified 
this  pass  so  strongly  that  there  was  no  hope  of  Sher 
man  being  able  to  carry  it  by  assault ;  and  that  com 
mander  determined  to  turn  the  enemy's  position  on 
the  left.  This  movement  was  intrusted  to  the  army 
of  the  Tennessee.  General  Blair  commanded  his  corps 
in  this  famous  flank  march,  which  resulted  in  the 
abandonment  of  the  position  before  Dalton  by  John 
ston,  and  his  retreat  to  Resaca.  From  Resaca  John 
ston  was  forced  back  to  Alatoona  Pass,  and  from  that 
point  to  Kenesaw  Mountain,  and  in  all  the  movements 
which  led  to  these  results  the  Seventeenth  Corps  bore 
an  honorable  part.  General  Blair  participated  in  the 
gallant  but  fruitless  assaults  of  the  27th  of  June,  on  the 
Confederate  position  at  Kenesaw  Mountain,  and  led 
his  corps  across  the  Chattahoochee  on  the  9th  of  July. 

On  the  morning  of  the  22d  of  July,  General  Sher 
man  discovered  that  the  enemy  had  abandoned  the 
strong  line  of  Peach  Tree  Creek  and  had  retired  within 
the  defences  of  Atlanta,  and  he  at  once  gave  the  order 
for  his  forces  to  close  in  around  that  city,  which  was 
done  during  the  day,  McPherson's  army  moving  upon 
the  left  of  Sherman's  line. 

General  McPherson  marched  practically  along  the 


THE    BATTLE    OF   JULY    22,   1864.  417 

line  of  the  Atlanta  and  Augusta  Railway,  with  the 
Fifteenth  Corps,  General  Logan,  in  the  centre  of  his 
line,  the  Sixteenth,  General  Dodge,  on  his  right,  and 
the  Seventeenth,  General  Blair,  on  his  left.  On  the 
night  of  the  21st,  General  Blair  had  made  a  gallant 
attack  on  a  force  of  the  enemy  strongly  intrenched  on 
a  commanding  hill  to  the  south  and  east  of  the  rail 
road,  had  driven  it  away  and  secured  the  position 
which  was  of  great  value  to  McPherson  in  his  move 
ment  of  the  22d.  In  order  to  make  sure  of  this  posi 
tion,  McPherson  commenced  to  fortify  it  on  the  morn 
ing  of  the  22d,  and  moved  forward  his  whole  force  to 
the  support  of  the  Seventeenth  Corps  which  was 
already  at  work  on  the  intrenchments. 

While  this  movement  was  going  on,  General  Hood, 
who  had  succeeded  General  Johnston  in  the  command 
of  the  Confederate  army,  sallied  forth  from  Atlanta 
with  a  strong  column  consisting  of  Hardee's  and 
Stewart's  Corps  of  his  army,  and  fell  upon  the  Seven 
teenth  with  that  fire  and  vigor  for  which  the  onsets  of 
the  Southern  troops  are  famous.  The  attack  was 
entirely  unexpected,  and  it  came  before  all  of  McPher- 
son's  troops  were  in  position.  It  fell  first  upon  the 
left  division  of  the  Seventeenth  Corps,  which  was  forced 
back  for  some  distance.  General  Blair  was  equal  to 
the  emergency,  however.  Bringing  his  corps  rapidly 
into  line  on  the  crest  of  the  hill,  he  received  the  enemy 
with  a  terrible  fire,  which  drove  them  back  for  a  mo 
ment.  They  pressed  on  again,  and  for  four  hours 
the  battle  went  on  hotly.  The  Seventeenth  Corps 
held  its  ground,  until  reenforced,  against  one  of 
27 


418  LIFE    OF    FRANCIS    P.  BLAIR,  JR. 

the  most  brilliant  and  gallant  efforts  ever  made  by  the 
Confederates.  The  battle  became  general  along  the 
whole  line  of  the  army  of  the  Tennessee,  but  its  chief 
weight  fell  upon  the  Seventeenth  Corps,  which  was 
highly  complimented  by  General  Sherman  for  its  gal 
lant  conduct.  Every  attack  of  the  Confederates  was 
repulsed,  and  about  five  o'clock,  the  enemy  withdrew 
towards  Atlanta. 

In  this  battle  General  McPherson,  commanding 
the  Army  of  the  Tennessee,  was  killed.  He  had  rid 
den  towards  his  left  alone,  for  the  purpose  of  directing 
the  movements  of  his  troops,  and  strayed  into  the 
enemy's  lines,  and  was  shot.* 

General  Blair  continued  to  direct  the  movements 


*  After  the  close  of  the  war  some  ev'1-minded  persons,  wishing  to 
injure  General  Blair,  who  had  given  great  offence  to  the  Radicals  by  his 
Conservative  course,  put  in  circulation  a  report  that  General  McPher- 
son's  death  had  been  caused  by  General  Blair's  incompetency  to  com 
mand  his  corps  in  the  battle  of  July  22d.  As  the  surest  way  of  refuting 
this  slander,  General  Blair  wrote  to  General  Sherman,  asking  his  opinion 
respecting  it.  The  following  is  his  letter : 

"  ST.  Louis,  June  22,  1866. 
"MAJOR-GENERAL  SHERMAN: 

"Dear  General — A  report  was  put  in  circulation  soon  after  the  bat 
tle  before  Atlanta,  on  the  22d  of  July,  1864,  by  some  irresponsible  letter 
writer,  to  the  effect  that  the  death  of  Major-General  McPherson  was  the 
direct  result  of  my  mismanagement  and  improper  disposition  of  the  troops 
under  my  command.  This  report  is  received  and  reiterated  by  persons 
who  are  displeased  with  my  political  sentiments,  wherever  it  promises  to 
give  them  any  advantage. 

"Every  soldier  and  officer  who  served  under  your  orders  has  a  right 
to  appeal  to  you  against  any  injustice  sought  to  be  inflicted  on  him  while 
under  yonr  command;  and  as  I  know  that  nothing  will  be  more  unjust 
and  more  injurious  than  this  accusation,  I  a^k  you  to  say  whether  there 
ii  any  foundation,  or  even  color  of  truth,  in  the  statement  to  which  I 


LETTER    FROM    GEN.  SHERMAN.  419 

of  his  corps  in  the  operations  which  led  to  the  capture 
of  Atlanta,  and  after  the  fall  of  that  city,  obtained  a 
temporary  leave  of  absence,  and  returned  to  the  West- 
have  referred.  I  have  only  to  add  that  it  is  my  intention  to  publish  your 
reply  to  this  note. 

u  Respectfully,  your  friend  and  obedient  servant, 

"  FRANK  P.  BLAIR,  Jr." 

To  this  note  General  Sherman  replied  as  follows : 

"HEADQUARTERS,  MIL.  Div.  OF  THE  MISSISSIPPI,) 
"  ST.  Louis,  Mo.,  June  23,  1866.       ) 
"  GENERAL  F.  P.  BLAIR,  ST.  Louis,  present : 

"Dear  General — I  am  this  moment  in  receipt  of  your  note  of  yester 
day,  in  which  you  state  that  certain  parties  differing  from  you  in  political 
sentiments,  have  raised  the  story  that  the  death  of  our  mutual  friend, 
General  McPherson,  July  22,  1864,  resulted  from  your  mismanagement 
and  faulty  disposition  of  troops. 

"  It  seems  impossible  to  fix  a  limit  to  the  falsehoods  that  politicians 
will  re-ort  to,  to  accomplish  their  ends;  but  this  goes  beyond  all  de 
cency.  The  truth  was,  and  is,  that  General  McPherson  in  person,  placed 
in  their  position  the  two  div'u-ions  which  composed  your  corps,  the 
Seventeenth,  and  instead  of  refusing  the  extreme  left,  he  had  in  person 
extended  it  forward,  and  detached  a  party  still  more  to  the  left  and  front 
to  secure  a  position  from  which  he  proposed  to  batter  the  large  rolling- 
mill  in  Atlanta.  Having  about  that  time  of  the  d<y,  say  10  A.  M.,  re 
ceived  from  me  a  note  telling  Lira  not  to  extend  too  far  to  his  left,  he 
left  you  and  came  to  me,  then  near  the  centre  of  the  general  line,  and 
urged  on  me  the  importance  of  using  Dodge's  two  divisions,  then  moving 
towards  that  flank,  to  extend  still  more  your  line.  I  had  consented  to 
modify  my  former  orders  in  part,  and  he  was  returning  to  that  flank 
when  he  was  killed. 

"  You  were  in  no  manner  the  cause ;  nor  was  it  your  business  to 
alter  the  disposition  of  the  troops,  just  as  General  McPherson  had  made 
them  himself.  You  had  no  reason  to  apprehend  danger  to  your  left  or 
rear ;  nor  from  the  nature  of  the  ground  could  you  have  seen  the  move 
ment  by  which  the  enemy's  skirmishers  reached  the  wooded  space,  in 
passing  which  General  McPherson  was  shot. 

44  Our  military  ma!<s  are  now  so  perfect  and  public,  and  the  official 
reports  of  the  facts  so  full  and  clear,  that  I  must  say  it  augurs  a  very  bad 


420  LIFE    OF   FRANCIS    P.  BLAIR,  JR. 

ern  States,  where  he  advocated  the  reelection  of  Mr. 
Lincoln  to  the  Presidency.  He  returned  to  the  army- 
late  in  October,  and  resumed  the  command  of  his  corps, 
which  was  then  resting  at  Smyrna  camp  ground,  after 
the  pursuit  of  Hood's  army  into  Alabama. 

When  General  Blair  returned  to  the  army,  Sher 
man  had  completed  his  arrangements  for  the  famous 
"  march  to  the  sea,"  and  had  divided  his  army  into 
two  wings.  The  right,  to  which  General  Blair  was 
attached,  consisted  of  the  Fifteenth  and  Seventeenth 
Corps,  and  was  commanded  by  General  Howard ;  and 
the  left,  comprised  of  the  Fourteenth  and  Twentieth 
Corps,  was  given  to  General  Slocum.  The  Seven 
teenth  Corps  consisted  of  three  divisions,  commanded 
by  Generals  Mower,  Leggett,  and  Giles  A.  Smith,  arid 
was  in  the  best  possible  condition  for  the  campaign, 
and  devotedly  attached  to  its  gallant  leader. 

Major  Nichols,  of  Gen.  Sherman's  staff,  gives  the 
following  description  of  Gen.  Blair,  as  he  appeared  at 
this  period : 

"  One  who  had  never  seen  General  Blair  except  in 
the  field  as  a  corps  commander,  would  find  it  difficult 
to  realize  that  he  has  occupied  so  prominent  a  position 
in  the  political  arena ;  for,  while  it  may  not  be  said 
that  he  is  a  born  soldier,  yet  he  possesses  in  a  marked 
degree  many  of  the  qualities  which  constitute  a  good 
commander.  Under  all  circumstances  he  never  loses 

heart  to  lay  this  charge  to  you,  from  which,  as  your  common  commander, 
I  exonerate  you  absolutely. 

"  With  great  respect, 
(Signed)  "  W.  T.  SHEEMAX,  Maj.-Gen." 


SKETCH    OF    GEN.  BLAIR,  421 

that  perfect  coolness  and  self-command  which  render 
him  master  of  the  situation,  and  inspire  the  confidence 
of  the  soldiers.  This  imperturbability  never  deserts 
him.  One  day,  when  the  rebels  renewed  an  attack 
upon  his  lines  with  furious  vigor,  although  they  had 
already  been  repulsed  several  times,  sustaining  terrible 
losses,  Blair  removed  his  cigar  from  his  mouth,  as  he 
watched  their  onset,  and  quietly  observed, 

u  'See  the  fellows!  There  they  come  again,  right 
through  the  woods.  What  in  thunder  do  they  want?' 

"  They  wanted  to  carry  his  line,  but  they  failed ;  and 
Blair  continued  smoking,  as  if  nothing  had  happened. 

"  General  Blair  is  one  of  the  most  hospitable  and 
popular  men  of  the  army.  As  commander  of  the 
Seventeenth  Corps,  he  is  identified  with  the  history  of 
the  Army  of -the  Tennessee — a  gallant,  heroic  band  of 
men,  it  may  be  added,  the  record  of  whose  deeds  yet 
remains  to  be  written.  The  General  wears  a  full 
sandy  beard  and  moustache,  which  conceal  the  lower 
part  of  his  face.  His  eyes  are  of  a  light  hazel  color, 
full  of  humor  and  good  nature — an  expression,  how 
ever,  that  is  somewhat  qualified  by  the  overhanging 
brow,  which  has  a  noli  me  tangere  air,  as  much  as  to 
say,  '  If  I  must  fight,  it  shall  be  war  to  the  hilt.'  In 
height,  the  General  is  about  five  feet  eleven  inches. 
His  frame  is  finely  proportioned ;  and  he  makes  a 
good  appearance  on  horseback.  He  selects  excellent 
horses,  and  knows  how  to  ride  them.  In  the  army  he 
has  the  reputation  of  a  kind,  generous,  discreet  man, 
and  a  brave  soldier."  * 

*  The  Story  of  the  Great  March,  pp.  9T,  98. 


422  LIFE    OF    FRANCIS    P.  BLAIR,  JR. 

Atlanta  and  Rome  having  been  destroyed,  the 
right  wing,  under  General  Howard,  began  its  march 
from  Whitehall  on  the  15th  of  November.  General 
Blair's  corps  formed  the  left  of  Howard's  column,  and 
led  the  advance,  moving  upon  McDonough  %by  the 
direct  road  from  Atlanta,  and  occupied  that  place  on 
the  16th.  On  the  17th,  he  encamped  at  Hendrick's 
Mill,  and  on  the  18th  crossed  the  Ocmulgee  and  moved 
towards  Hillsborough.  Marching  rapidly  through 
Gordon,  which  he  occupied  on  the  21st,  he  forced  the 
passage  of  the  Oconee  at  Ball's  Ferry,  compelling  the 
Confederates  to  abandon  their  fortified  position  at  this 
point,  and  after  securing  the  crossing,  destroyed  a  con 
siderable  portion  of  the  Georgia  Central  Railway.  On 
the  morning  of  the  26th  of  November,  General  Sher 
man  shifted  his  headquarters  from  the  left  wing,  and 
accompanied  Blair's  corps  in  person.  On  the  28th, 
Blair  encamped  before  Riddleville,  and  on  the  29th, 
at  Station  No.  10,  on  the  Central  Railway.  On  the 
30th,  he  moved  to  Barton,  or  Station  9J,  rebuilt  a 
partially  destroyed  wagon  bridge,  laid  a  pontoon  bridge 
over  the  Ogeechee,  and  crossed  that  river  at  that  point. 
Pushing  oh  the  next  day,  along  the  line  of  the  railway, 
which  he  destroyed  as  he  went,  he  reached  Millen  on 
the  2d  of  December,  and  burnt  the  depot  and  a  quan 
tity  of  railroad  supplies.  Continuing  to  move  along 
the  line  of  the  Central  Railway,  which  he  effectually 
demolished,  Gen.  Blair,  on  the  9th  of  December,  still 
leading  the  advance  of  the  army,  came  upon  the  enemy 
in  rifle-pits,  about  three  and  a  half  miles  from  Station 
No.  2.  Rapidly  throwing  his  troops  into  line,  he 


THE    MARCH    TO    THE    SEA.  423 

made  a  vigorous  and  successful  charge  upon  the  pits, 
carrying  them  with  a  rush,  and  then  pressed  on  in  the 
direction  taken  by  the  retreating  Confederates.  In  a 
short  time  he  came  upon  a  much  stronger  force  of  the 
enemy  posted  in  an  intrenched  line,  with  artillery  in 
position.  The  Southern  line  was  very  strong,  and  the 
only  approach  to  it  was  by  a  narrow  read  through  a 
thickly-wooded  swamp,  which  seemed  at  the  first  glance 
impassable.  Not  daunted  by  this,  Blair  moved  three 
lines  of  battle,  with  a  skirmish  line  in  advance,  along 
and  on  the  right  and  left  of  the  road ;  the  troops 
wading  through  the  mud,  and  often  through  water  up 
to  their  knees.  They  made  a  vigorous  attack  upon 
the  Confederates,  drove  them  from  their  original  posi 
tion,  and  pressed  them  back  steadily  during  the  day 
from  every  point  at  which  they  attempted  to  make  a 
stand,  until  nightfall,  when  the  corps  bivouacked  at 
Pooler,  or  Station  No.  1.  On  the  next  day,  the  rest 
of  the  army  came  up,  and  Sherman's  entire  force  was 
united  before  the  defences  of  Savannah,  which  city  fell 
into  his  possession  on  the  21st  of  December. 

After  a  month's  rest  at  Savannah,  Sherman  pre 
pared  to  execute  the  remainder  of  his  plan  for  finish 
ing  the  war,  which  was  to  inarch  through  the  Caroli- 
nas  and  place  his  army  within  supporting  distance  of 
the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  in  Virginia. 

On  the  15th  of  January,  General  Howard  em 
barked  Blair's  corps  on  transports  at  Thunderbolt,  near 
the  mouth  of  the  Savannah  River,  and  proceeded  to 
Beaufort,  South  Carolina,  where  he  disembarked  the 
troops.  Marching  rapidly  towards  the  Charleston  and 


424  LIFE    OF    FRANCIS    P.   BLAIR,  JR. 

Savannah  Railway,  General  Blair  seized  it  at  Pocota- 
ligo  Station,  driving  off  the  enemy,  and  establishing 
himself  firmly  on  the  road,  drawing  his  supplies  from, 
Hilton  Head  by  way  of  Pocotaligo  Creek.  Two  divi 
sions  of  the  Fifteenth  Corps  arrived  soon  after,  and  on 
the  24th  of  January,  every  thing  being  in  readiness, 
General  Sherman  reached  General  Blair's  headquarters. 
On  the  31st  of  January,  the  advance  of  the  army  was 
begun. 

General  Blair  was  ordered  to  force  the  line  of  the 
Salkehatchie,  which  was  held  by  the  enemy  in  force, 
at  River's  Bridge.  He  executed  this  task  with  great 
promptness  and  skill,  "  with  Mower's  and  Corse's  divi 
sions  of  the  Seventeenth  Corps,  the  latter  under  Giles 
A.  Smith,  on  the  3d  of  February,  by  crossing  the 
swamp,  nearly  three  miles  wide,  with  water  varying 
from  knee  to  shoulder  deep.  The  weather  was  bitter 
cold.  Generals  Mower  and  Smith  led  their  divisions 
in  person,  on  foot,  waded  the  swamp,  made  a  lodge 
ment  below  the  bridge,  and  turned  the  Rebel  brigade 
which  guarded  it,  driving  it  in  confusion  and  disorder 
towards  Branch  ville.'1  *  On  the  next  day  the  Seven 
teenth  Corps  occupied  Midway,  on  the  South  Carolina 
Railway,  and  at  once  commenced  the  destruction  of 
that  road,  which  was  continued  until  the  10th.  Then 
crossing  the  South  Fork  of  the  Edisto  at  Binnaker's 
Bridge,  Blair  moved  towards  Orangeburg.  On  the 
12th  of  February,  he  reached  Orangeburg  bridge, 
where  he  found  the  enemy  posted  in  intrenchments. 
He  at  once  drove  off  this  force,  and  pressed  it  across 

*  Sherman  and  his  Campaigns,    p.  337. 


PASSAGE    OF    THE    EDISTO.  425 

the  bridge.  The  Confederates  held  the  opposite  shore 
with  a  strong  line,  with  a  battery  in  the  centre,  their 
whole  line  being  covered  by  works  of  earth  and  cotton, 
and  under  the  cover  of  their  fire  they  succeeded  in 
partially  burning  the  bridge.  Determining  to  force 
the  Edisto  here,  General  Blair  moved  Giles  A.  Smith's 
division  close  up  to  the  river  in  front  of  the  bridge, 
and  moved  his  other  two  divisions  to  a  point  two  miles 
below.  Then  throwing  a  pontoon  bridge  over  the 
river,  he  crossed  Force's  division  and  held  Mower's  in 
support.  Force  at  once  moved  upon  the  Confederate 
works,  and  the  enemy  abandoned  them.  General 
Smith  then  secured  the  bridge,  crossed  the  river,  and 
occupied  the  abandoned  works.  The  whole  corps  was 
then  united  and  Orangeburg  was  occupied  by  four 
o'clock  in  tbe  afternoon.  General  Blair  was  ordered 
by  General  Sherman  to  destroy  the  railroad  as  far  as 
Lewisville,  and  to  compel  the  enemy  to  withdraw 
across  the  Congaree  and  burn  the  bridges  over  that 
stream,  which  he  did  on  the  14th.  On  the  17th  he 
arrived  before  Columbia.  A  party  of  his  men  crossed 
the  Congaree  in  a  skiff,  and  were  the  first  to  enter  the 
city,  which  was  formally  surrendered  to  General  Sher 
man  about  the  same  time.  The  Seventeenth  Corps, 
however,  did  not  enter  the  town  at  all,  but  encamped 
across  the  river  from  it.  On  the  20th,  after  Sherman 
had  finished  his  work  of  destruction  in  Columbia,  the 
march  was  resumed,  and  on  the  21st  of  February, 
Winnsboro  was  reached.  From  this  point,  while 
Slocum,  by  a  feint  towards  Charlotte,  N.  C.,  deceived 
the  Confederates  as  to  Sherman's  intentions,  Blair, 


426  LIFE    OF   FRANCIS    P.  BLAIR,  JR. 

leading  the  advance  of  the  right  wing,  crossed  the 
Catawba  on  the  22d  of  February,  and  marched  upon 
Cheraw,  which  he  occupied  on  the  3d  of  March,  cap 
turing  twenty-five  pieces  of  artillery  and  a  large  quan 
tity  of  military  stores,  which  had  been  sent  there  from 
Charleston  when  that  city*  was  evacuated.  These  he 
destroyed,  together  with  the  railroad  and  all  the 
bridges  within  reach.  On  the  5th  of  March,  having 
forced  the  enemy  over  the  Great  Pedee,  he  crossed 
that  river  at  Cheraw,  and  led  the  advance  upon  Fay- 
etteville,  which  he  reached  on  the  12th  of  March,  the 
town  having  been  occupied  by  the  left  wing  on  the 
previous  day.  This  portion  of  the  march  was  very 
trying  upon  the  men,  and  some  idea  of  its  difficulties 
may  be  gained  from  the  following  extract  from  the 
diary  of  Major  Nichols : 

"  What  a  noble  army  we  have  here  !  Every  day 
produces  fresh  and  striking  illustrations  of  the  men's 
cheerful  acceptance  of  all  the  discouraging  circum 
stances  of  the  situation.  For  instance ;  a  wagon,  pain 
fully  toiling  along  the  road,  suddenly  careens;  the 
wheels  are  submerged  in  a  quicksand ;  every  effort  of 
the  mules  or  horses  to  'pull  out'  only  buries  the  un 
fortunate  vehicle  deeper  in  the  mire,  and  very  soon 
the  animals  have  dug  for  themselves  a  pit,  out  of 
which  many  are  never  extricated  alive.  The  driver 
sees  at  once  that  it  is  useless  to  whip  and  swear,  so  he 
dismounts.  Then  the  train  guard,  who  have  been 
resting  upon  their  muskets,  watching  the  proceedings, 
quietly  stack  their  weapons,  and  at  once  plunge  into 
the  mud.  A  dozen  of  them  are  at  work  with  shoulders 


BATTLE    OF    BENTONVILLE.  427 

at  the  wheels  and  body  of  the  wagon,  and  finally  they 
lift  it  out  of  the  hole  upon  firmer  ground.  One  or 
two  wagons  stuck  in  this  way  show  at  once  that  the 
road  must  be  corduroyed.  Then,  with  many  a  jest 
and  an  untiring  flow  of  good  humor,  the  men  wade 
into  the  neighboring  swamp,  cut  down  and  split  the 
trees,  and  soon  bridge  over  these  impassable  places. 
A  few  rods  further  on  the  head  of  column  arrives  at  a 
creek,  which  in  ordinary  seasons  is  ten  feet  wide,  and 
has  a  few  inches  of  water  running  over  a  hard  sandy 
bottom.  Now  the  water  is  four  or  six  feet  in  depth, 
and  spreads  out  to  a  width  of  sixty  feet,  encroaching 
upon  the  softer  earth.  A  bridge  must  be  built.  Into 
the  water  dash,  our  men  without  hesitation,  for  they 
know  the  work  must  be  done  at  once.  "Waist  deep, 
throat  deep,  not  a  dry  spot  about  them.  'No  matter 
for  that,'  they  say ;  c  we  shall  be  in  camp  by  and  by, 
and  then,  before  our  roaring  fires,  we  will  rehearse  the 
incidents  of  the  day.' "  * 

Wilmington  having  fallen  into  Schofield's  posses 
sion,  Sherman  remained  at  Fayetteville  on  the  12th, 
13th,  and  14th  of  March,  engaged  in  destroying  the 
public  property  at  that  place,  and  on  the  15th  the 
march  was  resumed  towards  Goldsboro.  On  the  19th 
General  Slocum,  with  the  left  wing,  encountered  the 
whole  Confederate  army  at  Bentonville.  Sherman  at 
once  sent  Howard  to  his  assistance  with  the  Fifteenth 
and  Seventeenth  Corps.  This  column  reached  Ben 
tonville  by  a  forced  night  march,  arriving  there  in 
time  to  take  part  in  the  final  repulse  of  the  enemy, 

*  The  Story  of  the  Great  March.    P.  233. 


428  LIFE    OF   FRANCIS    P.  BLAIR,  JR. 

who  were  defeated  after  a  most  gallant  and  determined 
effort  on  their  part. 

Gen.  Blair  participated  in  the  closing  scenes  of  the 
war  in  North  Carolina,  and  when  Sherman's  army 
was  transferred  to  Washington  City,  led  his  Corps  in 
the  march  to  that  city,  where  he  took  part  in  the' 
great  review  in  May,  1865. 

While  the  Army  was  in  Petersburg,  General  How 
ard,  his  immediate  commander,  sent  Gen.  Blair,  of 
his  own  accord,  the  following  letter,  which  shows  the 
high  opinion  he  entertained  of  his  gallant  subor 
dinate  : 

"  HEADQUARTERS  ARMY  OF  THE  TENNESSEE, 

PETERSBURG,  VA.,  May  7,  1865. 
"  MAJOR  GENERAL  F.  P.  BLAIR, 

Commanding  Seventeenth  Corps : 
"  MY  DEAR  SIR. — Hearing  that  you  intend  soon  to 
leave  the  service,  I  wish  to  thank  you  for  the  genuine 
kindness  and  uniform  hearty  support  you  have  ever 
extended  towards  me,  from  the  time  I  took  command, 
through  all  the  varied  and  trying  circumstances  of 
hard  campaigning  up  to  the  present  time.  I  take  great 
pleasure  and  pride  in  acknowledging  your  ability  and 
success  as  a  commanding  officer,  and  if  I  can  at  any 
time  be  of  service  to  yourself  I  trust  you  will  not  fail 
to  call  upon  me  as  a  friend.  With  high  esteem,  I  sub 
scribe  myself, 

"  Yours  sincerely, 
(Signed)  u  O.  O.  HOWARD,  MAJ.  GEN.11 

From  Washington,  General  Blair  conducted  the 


GEN.  BLAIR   RESIGNS  BIS    COMMISSION.  429 

Seven  teen  tli  Corps  to  Louisville,  Ky.,  where  it  was 
formally  disbanded  on  the  llth  of  July,  1865.  On 
that  clay  he  took  a  formal  leave  of  his  command.  In 
his  parting  address,  he  recounted  their  triumphs, 
thanked  them  for  their  heroism  and  devotion  under 
all  circumstances,  and  for  "  the  reputation  which  their 
gallantry  had  conferred  upon  him,11  and  declared  his 
readiness  to  lead  his  old  comrades,  if  the  necessity  for 
so  doing  should  arise,  to  the  relief  of  the  struggling 
Republic  of  Mexico.  Having  discharged  this  last  duty, 
General  Blair  resigned  his  commission  as  Major-Gen- 
eral  of  Volunteers,  and  retired  to  civil  life. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

General  Blair  Favors  a  Liberal  and  Generous  Policy  towards  the  South — 
Opposes  the  Ultra  Measures  of  the  Radicals — Denounces  the  Dis- 
fianchisementLaw  of  the  Missouri  Legislature — Refuses  to  Subscribe 
to  the  Test  Oath— Is  Refused  his  Right  to  Vote — Separates  himself 
from  the  Republican  Party,  and  Unites  with  the  Democracy — His 
Nomination  as  C» Hector  of  Revenue  Rejected  by  the  Senate — Is 
Mentioned  as  a  Candidate  for  the  Presidency — Letter  to  Colonel 
Broadhead — Comments  of  the  Radicals — Statement  by  the  Herald — 
Speech  of  Hon.  Montgomery  Blair — The  Convention — General  Blair 
a  Candidate — Nominated  for  the  Vice-Presidency — Scene  in  the 
Convention — Formal  Tender  of  the  Nomination — Speech  of  Geaeral 
Morgan — Reply  of  General  Blair — Meeting  in  14th  Street — Speech 
of  General  Blair — His  Letter  of  Acceptance — His  Visit  to  the  West 
—  His  Speech  at  Omaha — Tribute  from  the  Buffalo  Courier. 

GEN.  BLAIR  had  given  his  best  efforts  in  behalf  of 
the  Union  during  the  four  years  of  the  great  Civil  War, 
and,  as  we  have  seen,  his  services  were  both  brilliant 
and  important.  While  the  resistance  of  the  people 
of  the  South  continued,  he  was  in  favor .  of  prosecu 
ting  the  war  with  the  utmost  vigor,  but  when  the 
war  was  closed  by  the  submission  of  the  South,  his 
plan  of  operations  was  changed.  He  had  the  sagacity 
to  see  that  the  submission  of  the  Southern  people  was 
genuine  and  honest,  and  he  at  once  began  to  urge  the 
adoption  of  a  liberal  and  generous  policy  towards 
them.  He  had  fought  for  the  restoration  of  the  Union 
and  for  the  supremacy  of  the  laws,  and  not  for  the 
subjugation  or  destruction  of  the  South,  and  he  was 


CONSERVATIVE    COURSE    OF    GEN.  BLAIR.  431 

by  no  means  willing  to  allow  the  fair  promise  which 
peace  brought  with  it  to  be  blasted  by  the  fanatical 
fury  of  the  extreme  men  in  control  of  affairs.  He 
returned  to  Missouri,  and  endeavored  to  promote  a 
wise  and  liberal  course  on  the  part  of  the  State  Gov 
ernment  towards  the  people  of  that  State  who  had 
been  aiders  of  or  sympathizers  with  the  Confede 
rates.  Fanaticism  ruled  the  hour,  however,  and  he 
was  powerless  to  do  more  than  protest  against  what 
he  saw  was  both  unwise  and  unconstitutional. 

The  Legislature  of  Missouri  enacted  a  law  dis 
franchising  all  who  participated  in  or  gave  aid  and 
comfort  to  the  Rebellion,  and  another  law  forcing  a 
test  oath  upon  all  the  citizens  of  the  State.  These 
measures  received  the  unqualified  condemnation  of 
General  Blair  as  prescriptive  and  unconstitutional. 
He  declared  that  since  all  those  who  had  aided  or 
sympathized  with  the  Rebellion  had  submitted  peace 
fully  to  the  authority  of  the  General  Government, 
there  was  no  further  necessity  of  harshness  towards 
them,  and  that  it  was  dangerous  to  the  peace  and 
prosperity  of  the  State  to  deprive  them  of  the  right 
of  suffrage.  He  refused  to  subscribe  to  the  test  oa,th, 
and  having  presented  himself  at  the  polls  in  St.  Louis 
for  the  purpose  of  casting  his  ballot  at  one  of  the 
elections,  was  refused  the  privilege  of  voting  until  he 
should  take  the  oath.  Determined  to  bring  the  matter  to 
a  prompt  issue,  he  brought  a  suit  before  the  Court  for 
the  purpose  of  testing  the  Constitutionality  of  the  laws. 
The  case  is  still  before  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States,  awaiting  a  decision.  When  the  Reconstruc- 


432  LIFE    OF    FRANCIS    P.  BLAIR,  JR. 

tion  laws  of  Congress  were  passed,  he  denounced  them 
as  despotic,  revolutionary,  and  unconstitutional,  and 
declared  that  the  people  of  the  South  would  be  justi 
fied  in  resisting  their  execution.  He  opposed  with 
great  earnestness  the  policy  of  universal  negro  suffrage, 
branding  it  as  an  outrage  upon  the  people  and  a  dis 
grace  to  the  country. 

Up  to  the  close  of  the  war  he  had  acted  with  the 
Republican  party,  but  when  that  organization  began  the 
excesses  which  have  made  its  career  infamous  of  late 
years,  he  separated  himself  from  it.  He  had  contribu 
ted  in  a  marked  degree  to  the  organization,  growth,  and 
success  of  that  party,  because  he  could  not  conscien 
tiously  unite  with  the  Democracy  on  the  slavery  ques 
tion.  u  On  all  points  except  slavery,"  says  the  New- 
"buryport  (Mass.)  Herald,  a  high-toned  conservative 
Republican  journal,  "  he*  was  Democratic,  as  were  his 
father  and  brother  ;  and  when  slavery  was  abolished, 
he  naturally  swung  back  to  his*  old  position.  He  saw 
no  reason,  as  thousands  of  others  cannot,  for  keeping 
slavery  in  politics  when  slavery  had  long  been  dead  and 
in  its  grave.  He  won  a  good  name  in  Congress,  and 
showed  spirit,  patriotism  and  capacity  during  the  rebel 
lion.  Missouri  was  saved  to  the  Union  by  Frank 
Blair ;  and  afterwards  in  the  Southern  campaign  he 
was  one  of  the  best  and  most  efficient  commanders." 

He  could  not  now  follow  the  Republican  party  into 
the  excesses  against  which  both  his  heart  and  judg 
ement  revolted,  and  he  at  once,  with  characteristic  bold 
ness  and  wisdom,  united  himself  with  the  Democratic 
party. 


NOMINATION   REJECTED.  433 

President  Johnson,  appreciating  the  services  he  had 
rendered  the  Union,  nominated  him  in  March,  1866, 
to  be  Collector  of  the  Internal  Revenue  for  the  State 
of  Missouri,  but  he  was  rejected  by  a  party  vote  in 
the  Senate. 

In  the  Spring  of  1868,  General  Blair  visited  the 
Eastern  States,  and  during  this  visit  delivered  the  fol 
lowing  address  in  the  town  of  Seymour,  Connecticut, 
on  the  3d  of  April  1868,  showing  how  the  Radical 
Congress  has  usurped  arbitrary  powers  in  the  work  of 
reconstructing  the  Southern  States.  The  speech  pre 
sents  such  a  fair  expose  of  the  Congressional  outrages 
that  we  give  it  entire.  He  said  : 

u  Discontent  was  never  so  universal  in  our  country 
as  at  this  moment.  Even  when  the  civil  war  excited 
the  nation,  there  was  an  enthusiasm  on  both  sides  in 
spiring  heroism.  The  antagonists,  who  were  honest  in 
their  convictions,  felt  a  patriotism  that  lifted  every 
man  above  complaint  or  despondency.  When  the  war 
closed,  the  great  mass  of  the  people  of  the  North  were 
exultant,  and  even  its  soldiers  in  the  field  of  battle 
where  their  foes  surrendered,  yet  smoking  with  blood 
spilled  from  kindred  veins,  proved,  nevertheless,  that 
they  cherished  a  generous  sympathy  for  the  fallen. 
They  gave  even  their  stores  of  provisions  to  the  van 
quished  as  the  greater  sufferers  from  longer  depriva 
tion,  and  utterly  stript  of  the  means  of  supply.  The 
hearts  of  the  overthrown  South  were  touched  by  this 
magnanimity.  Grant,  with  the  sanction  of  Lincoln, 
who  was  in  the  camp  when  the  first  battle  commenced, 
gave  peace  upon  the  terms  of  the  act  passed  by  the  al- 
28 


434  LIFE    OF   FRANCIS    P.  BLAIR,  JR. 

most  unanimous  vote  of  Congress  immediately  after 
the  war  opened :  4  Your  arms  surrendered,  your 
parole  given,  go  home,  obey  the  laws  where  you  reside, 
and  you  shall  not  be  disturbed.1  Thus  was  the  great 
rebellion  extinguished.  Lincoln  had  previously  de 
clared,  during  its  continuance,  the  purpose  for  which 
it  was  waged  and  the  conditions  on  which  it  would  be 
closed.  The  Provisional  Governors,  who,  as  the  dep 
uties  of  the  President,  are  appointed  to  see  the  prelim 
inaries,  on  which  the  capitulation  is  thus  made  on  the 
fields  of  battle,  strictly  observed,  in  this  capacity  be 
came  quasi  military  and  civil  instruments  to  conduct 
peaceably  the  people  of  the  South  into  their  old  rela 
tions  in  the  Union,  taking  order  that  they  should  not 
be  obstructed  in  restoring  their  Constitutions  and  laws 
to  the  state  before  the  war,  accommodating  them  to 
the  new  conditions  imposed  by  its  results.  Their 
function  was  to  let  them  know  that  the  way  was 
opened  to  them  for  this  good  work,  and  give  them  the 
aid  of  the  General  Government.  The  people  of  every 
Southern  State  instantly  addressed  themselves  to  it. 
They  restored  their  old  constitutions  in  exact  accord 
ance  with  their  original  principles,  and  those  of  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States.  They  abolished 
slavery  to  fulfil  the  demands  made  pending  the  rebel 
lion  in  President  Lincoln's  proclamation  as  to  the 
terms  of  surrender,  and  making  this  a  condition  of 
their  restoration  to  all  their  rights  by  amnesty  under 
their  renovated  Union  Constitutions.  Mr.  Lincoln's 
pardon  of  December  8,  1863,  excepted  from  it  all 
above  the  grade  of  Colonel,  certain  civil  diplomatic 


SPEECH   AT    SEYMOUR,  CONN.  435 

officers  in  the  Confederate  service,  and  those  c  who 
had  left  their  seat  in  Congress  and  judicial  stations,' 
and  '  all  who  had  resigned  commissions  in  the  army 
and  navy  of  the  United  States  to  aid  the  rebellion  ; ' 
with  these  exceptions  every  man  was  pardoned  who 
made  oath  in  these  '-vords : 

"  '  I  will  henceforth  faithfully  support,  protect,  and 
defend  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  and  the 
union  of  the  States  thereunder  ;  and  that  I  will  in  like 
manner  abide  by  arid  faithfully  support  all  acts  of 
Congress  passed  during  the  rebellion  with  reference  to 
slavery — and  so  long  and  so  far  as  not  repealed,  mod 
ified,  or  held  void  by  Congress,  or  by  decision  of  the 
Supreme  Court ;  and  that  I  will  in  like  manner  abide 
by  and  faithfully  support  all  proclamations  of  the 
President  made  during  the  existing  rebellion  having 
reference  to  slavery,  so  long  and  so  far  as  not  modified 
or  declared  void  by  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court,  so 
help  me  God/ 

"  This  was  the  oath  prescribing  the  conditions  of 
pardon  to  restore  all  the  rights  of  rebels  not  excluded 
by  its  exceptions.  This  was  followed  by  the  capitula 
tion  given  by  Grant  to  Lee  under  the  sanction  of  Lin 
coln,  who  was  with  the  army  and  in  hourly  communi 
cation  with  Grant  during  the  series  of  conflicts  which 
ended  the  war.  This  extended  the  pardon  to  all  who 
then  surrendered,  and  afterwards  to  all  who  surren 
dered  under  Johnson,  and  every  successive  surrender, 
and  all  who  gave  their  parole  and  took  the  prescribed 
oath  were  entitled  to  the  benefit  of  the  amnesty.  This 
was  the  ground  assumed  by  General  Grant  when  Gen- 

• 

/ 
I  ~NI\ 


436  LIFE    OF   FRANCIS    P.  BLAIR,  JK. 

eral  Lee  was  indicted  for  high  treason,  and  this  re 
ceived  the  sanction  of  President  Johnson,  and  upon  it 
the  chief  commanding  the  forces  of  the  rebellion  was 
discharged  from  indictment  formed  against  him  by  the 
grand  jury  for  treason,  the  capitulation  and  parole, 
under  Lincoln's  proclamation,  restoring  him  to  all  his 
rights  as  a  citizen,  and  stipulating  that  he  should  re 
main  undisturbed  as  long  thereafter  as  he  obeyed  the 
laws,  being  construed  as  equivalent  to  a  pardon.  Jef 
ferson  Davis  himself  would  have  been  exonerated,  if 
he  had  been  surrendered  with  his  troops  under  this  ca 
pitulation.  Not  one  of  the  soldiers  or  officers  of  the 
Confederate  army  can  be  justly  subjected  to  punish 
ment  or  any  disqualification  from  their  rights  of  citi 
zenship  by  any  ex  post  facto  law  passed  by  Congress  or 
any  of  the  States  ;  nor  can  any  of  those  persons  en 
titled  to  avail  themselves  of  the  amnesty  proclaimed 
by  either  President  Lincoln  or  Johnson.  The  Consti 
tution  forbids  it,  and  in  every  case  where  the  judicial 
tribunals  have  been  called  on  to  inteq>ose  and  stay 
the  usurpations  of  the  Rump  Congress,  and  the 
military  power  asserting  its  authority,  they  have  de 
cided  to  maintain  the  immunities  of  the  people  under 
the  Constitution,  and  the  Executive  amnesties  and 
pardons  it  authorizes. 

u  Now,  under  what  pretexts  can  the  so-called  Re 
construction  acts  of  Congress  be  maintained  against 

o  ~ 

that  which  the  Supreme  Court  has  in  its  recent  decis 
ion  asserted  ?  The  plan  proposed  by  President  Lincoln 
was  founded  on  the  assumption  that  the  States  attempt 
ing  secession  had  no  right  to  secede  ;  that  all  their 


SPEECH    AT    SEYMOUR,  CONN.  437 

proceedings  in  that  direction  were  illegal  and  void, 
and  that  whatever  shape  usurpation  of  State  powers 
might  take  in  overthrowing  the  relations  between  the 
State  and  Federal  authorities,  they  remained  unchanged 
and  ready  for  resumption  as  soon  as  the  hostile  insur 
rectionary  force  was  put  down.  An  opinion  just  pro 
nounced  by  the  Supreme  Court  during  the  present 
term,  establishing  his  plan  of  operations,  presents  the 
constitutional  principle  that  supports  it.  The  Court 
says :  ;  We  agree  that  all  the  proceedings  of  these 
eleven  States,  either  severally  or  in  conjunction,  by 
means  of  which  the  existing  governments  were  over 
thrown  and  new  governments  erected  in  their  stead, 
were  wholly  illegal  and  void,  and  that  they  remained 
after  the  attempted  separation  and  change  of  govern 
ment,  in  judgment  of  law,  as  completely  under  all 
their  constitutional  obligations  as  before.  The  Consti 
tution  of  the  United  States,  which  is  the  fundamental 
law  of  each  and  all  of  them,  not  only  afforded  no 
countenance  or  authority  for  their  proceeding,  but  they 
were  in  every  part  of  them  in  express  disregard  and 
violation  of  it.1 

"  Is  it  not  clear  from  this,  that  the  de  facto  govern 
ment  having  been  put  down  by  the  means  and  in  the 
mode  provided  for  by  the  Constitution,  the  State  gov 
ernments,  overthrown  by  the  suppressed  insurrection, 
must  necessarily  rise  up  and  their  citizens  and  func 
tionaries  assume  their  duties,  and  be  held  as  'completely 
under  all  their  obligations  as  before,''  and  with  their  re 
ciprocal  rights  ?  And  is  not  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States,  which  is  declared  by  the  Court  to  be 


438  LIFE    OF   FEANCIS    P.  BLAIR,  JR. 

lthe  fundamental  law  of  each  and  all  of  them,1  as 
absolutely  applicable  and  as  thoroughly  bound  to  dis 
charge  its  duties  to  both  the  State  governments  and 
their  people,  as  if  they  had  never  been  crushed  under 
an  insurrection  ? 

u  The  greatest  sufferers  by  the  rebellion  are  the  un 
happy  people  who  refused  to  countenance  it  by  their 
votes,  although  constrained  by  secret  military  societies 
everywhere  putting  them  under  duress,  threatening 
life,  liberty  and  property  to  coerce  them.  Taken  by 
surprise,  they  could  neither  resist  themselves,  nor 
would  the  general  Government,  although  bound  to 
protect,  interpose  to  save  them.  Yet  the  majority,  in 
all  the  States  but  one,  stood  out  against  the  secession 
ordinances ;  and  now  almost  the  whole  people  claim 
their  rights  under  the  Constitution,  in  virtue  of  the 
amnesty  proclamations,  and  the  soldiers  laid  down 
their  arms,  and  gave  their  parole  too,  under  the  capit 
ulation  which  pledged  that  they  should  never  be  dis 
turbed.  This  was  an  absolute  pardon,  sanctioned  by 
Lincoln,  and  binding  the  faith  of  the  nation.  What 
right  has  Congress  to  deny  them  their  citizenship 
under  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  and 
of  their  States,  which  they  have  been  prompt  to  ac 
commodate  to  the  conditions  imposed  by  the  war,  and 
which  had  been  proclaimed  to  be  necessary  prelimina 
ries  to  its  conclusion — emancipation,  renunciation  of 
the  secession  ordinances  and  the  Confederate  debt  ? 

"  The  Supreme  Court  has  already  pronounced  its 
decree  on  the  efficiency  of  the  President's  pardoning 
power  and  amnesty  in  the  decision  in  Garland's  case, 


SPEECH    AT    SEYMOUR,  CONN.  439 

which  is  familiar  to  the  whole  country.  Has  Congress 
any  authority  to  set  aside  the  Executive  pardon,  made 
absolute  and  indefeasible  by  the  supreme  fundamental 
law  of  the  land  ?  Congress,  which  had  the  hardihood 
to  grant  pardons  for  offences  imposed  by  its  own  ex 
post  facto  laws,  offences  which  it  had  no  right  to  create, 
has  not  ventured  in  terms  to  deny  the  President's 
power  of  pardon — under  Avhat  pretext  does  it  assume 
to  subject  t6  the  most  grievous  punishment  millions  of 
people — multitudes  of  them  innocent  of  a  thought  to 
harm  the  Union — multitudes  of  them  its  devout 
friends,  but  nevertheless  by  conscription  dragged  into 
the  opposing  ranks  and  their  means  extorted  to  supply 
them,  betrayed  and  abandoned  by  the  Government  to 
its  and  their  enemies — how  can  they  justify  the  punish 
ment  of  such  or  any  others,  absolved  by  the  proclama^, 
tion  of  amnesty  and  special  Executive  pardons  ?  Yet 
the  whole  white  race  of  the  South  are  unjustly  sacri 
ficed  to  the  negro  race  of  the  ostracized  States.  The 
negroes  are  made  the  instruments  of  forcing  upon 
them  governments  abhorrent  to  them,  constitutions  de 
vised  by  caucus  committees  in  Washington,  to  bind 
them  forever  under  negro  rule.  Is  this  no  punishment 
to  the  exalted  race  that  fought  the  battles  that  made  us 
a  nation  independent  of  foreign  rule  ?  Is  it  no  pun 
ishment  to  our  whole  kindred  of  the  South  to  have 
their  ablest  and  best  classes  disabled  by  penal,  ex  post 
facto,  unconstitutional  statutes,  passed  to  disfranchise 
them,  to  deprive  them  of  the  suffrage,  which  is  given 
to  the  negroes  and  to  disqualify  them  for  all  public 
trusts  ?  The  people  of  the  South  who  created  its  gov- 


440  LIFE    OF    FRANCIS    P.   BLAIR,  JR. 

ernments  rise  and  say  in  written  petitions,  and  in  one 
vote  when  consulted  :  '  Continue  the  military  govern 
ment  of  our  own  race  which  you  have  put  over  us, 
rather  than  this  unnatural,  intolerable  subjugation. ' 

ct  Let  it  be  remembered  that  negro  sovereignty  over 
the  South,  which  in  commanding  that  section  has  a 
control  even  in  the  North,  was  never  submitted  to  the 
people  of  the  North  as  a  question  to  be  decided  in  the 
elections.  When  it  was  suggested  in  the%Democratic 
Conventions  that  the  lurking  design  of  establishing 
negro  suffrage  was  entertained  by  the  Republican 
party,  it  was  universally  denied  by  its  candidates  'be 
fore  the  people.  The  present  Congress  made  their 
programme  for  the  election  rest  on  the  amendment  to 
•  the  Constitution  known  as  the  fourteenth  amendment, 
reported  from  Mr.  Stevens's  committee,  recognizing  the 
constitutional  right  of  each  Southern  State  to  establish 
suffrage  for  itself,  but  providing  in  case  the  negroes 
were  excluded  from  voting,  they  should  not  be  counted 
in  the  ratio  of  representation — that  is  to  say,  that  no 
State  which  excluded  any  class  of  people  from  the  suf 
frage  on  account  c  of  race,  or  color,  or  previous  condi 
tion,1  should  be  entitled  to  representation  in  Congress 
or  the  Electoral  College  based  upon  the  excluded  per 
sons.  Upon  this  pronounced  principle,  voted  by  the 
entire  Republican  party  in  both  branches  of  Congress, 
they  went  before  the  people,  and  by  adroitly  represent 
ing  that  in  case  the  State  of  Alabama,  for  instance, 
containing  half  a  million  of  blacks,  and  half  a  mil 
lion  of  whites,  should  exclude  the  blacks  from  suffrage, 
its  voting  population  of  one-half  million  of  whites 


SPEECH   AT   SEYMOUR,  CONN.  441 

ought  not  to  have  representation  in  Congress  based 
on  the  numbers  of  both  white  and  black,  which  would 
give  them  equal  representation  with  one  million  of 
white  men  in  a  Northern  State — making  one  white 
man  in  Alabama  equal  to  two  in  any  Northern  State. 
It  was  on  this  principle  that  their  existing  majority  in 
the  present  Congress  was  returned.  But  they  had  no 
soo'ner  reached  their  seats  than  they  violated  their 
pledges  and  the  Constitution  together.  They  enacted 
negro  suffrage  universally  for  the  whole  South  in  their 
reconstruction  acts  ;  they  made  it  paramount  in  all  the 
Conventions  to  establish  the  State  'Constitutions,  and 
in  order  to  give  supremacy  to  this  negro  vote,  they 
disabled  a  sufficient  number  of  the  white  race  to  give 
the  negro  vote  the  majority.  In  giving  the  right  6T~ 
registry  of  voters  to  its  own  agents,  the  present  Con 
gress  holds  the  power,  and  if  re-elected  will  retain  it, 
to  make  the  vote  of  the  ten  States  dependent  on  its 
will.  If  this  power  now  assumed  by  Congress  over 
the  suffrage  of  the  States  be  maintained  and  transmit 
ted,  as  it  is  reported  by  Kelly,  of  Pennsylvania,  and 
Sumner,  of  Massachusetts,  and  others,  it  may  be,  the 
Government  is  consolidated  in  the  hands  of  Congress, 
with  the  power  of  perpetuating  itself. 

"  This  was  not  the  sort  of  reconstruction  on  which 
Mr.  Lincoln  was  reflected,  and  on  which  he  staked  him 
self  in  opposition  to  the  Radicals,  and  went  before  the 
nominating  Republican  Convention — and  afterwards 
made  proclamation  to  the  people  to  enable  them  to  de 
cide  it  at  the  polls.  Let  me  briefly  point  to  the  steps 
taken  by  the  President,  and  with  the  approval  of  the 


442  LIFE    OF   FRANCIS    P.  BLAIR,  JR. 

people,  on  this  all-essential  question  of  reconstruction ; 
then  contrast  it  with  that  of  Congress.  The  collision 
between  Congressional  Radicalism  and  the  Executive 
began  under  Mr.  Lincoln.  By  resolution  Congress 
invited  the  President  to  issue  his  proclamation  of  am 
nesty,  coupled  with  the  condition  of  taking  the  oath  to 
abide  by  his  proclamation  of  emancipation  as  a  war 
measure.  In  his  subsequent  message  to  Congress  he 
explained  this  measure  as  having  for  its  object  recon 
struction  of  the  States,  saying  that  he  had  '  proffered 
that  if  in  any  of  the  States  named  a  State  Govern 
ment  shall  be,  in  the  mode  prescribed,  set  up,  such 
Government  shall  be  recognized  and  guarantied  by  the 
United  States,  and  that  under  it  the  State  shall,  on 
the  constitutional  conditions,  be  protected  against  in 
vasion  and  domestic  violence,'  and  then,  he  added,  in 
justification  for  extending  the  oath  to  support  the  Con 
stitution  so  as  to  embrace  the  declaration  '  to  abide  by 
his  proclamation  of  emancipation,1  this  passage  in  his 


message : 


c  But  if  it  be  proper  to  require  as  a  test  of  admis 
sion  to  a  political  body  an  oath  of  allegiance  to  the 
Constitution  and  the  Union  under  it,  why  not  also 
to  the  laws  and  proclamations  in  regard  to  slavery  ? 
These  laws  and  proclamations  were  enacted  and  put 
forth  for  the  purpose  of  aiding  in  the  suppression  of 
the  rebellion.  To  give  them  their  fullest  effect  there 
had  to  be  a  pledge  for  their  maintenance.  In  my  judg 
ment  they  have  aided  and  will  further  aid  the  cause 
for  which  they  were  intended.  To  now  abandon  them 
would  be  not  only  to  relinquish  a  lever  of  power,  but 


SPEECH    AT   SEYMOUR,  CONN.  443 

would  also  be  a  cruel  and  an  astounding  breach  of 
faith.1 

"  This  attitude  assumed  by  the  President,  and 
which  ushered  in  the  year  1864,  the  whole  Republican 
party,  in  and  out  of  Congress,  heartily  assumed.  But 
the  views  of  ambition  in  Presidential  aspirants  worked 
a  change  before  the  close  of  the  summer  session.  Messrs. 
Wade  and  Winter  Davis,  chairmen  of  the  Reconstruc 
tion  Committees  of  the  Senate  and  House,  worked 
through  Congress  a  bill  which  was  to  withdraw  the 
subject  of  restoring  the  relations  of  the  States  in  the 
Union  from  the  President  and  to  take  the  whole  matter 
into  the  hands  of  Congress ;  and.  moreover,  to  with 
draw  the  subject  from  the  people  of  the  States  them 
selves,  and  dictate  in  Congress  the  Constitution  of 
these  States.  They  induced  Congress  to  enact  a  law 
prescribing  Constitutions  to  the  States,  disfranchising 
whole  classes  of  citizens,  making  them  ineligible  for 

/  o  o 

office  and  incapable  of  voting,  declaring  that  every 
person  who  shall  hereafter  hold  or  exercise  any  office, 
civil  or  military,  below  the  grade  of  colonel,  is  hereby 
declared  not  to  be  a  citizen  of  the  United  States;  and 
appointing  a  provisional  Governor,  who  is  authorized 
to  call  a  convention  to  adopt  the  constitution  thus 
prescribed  to  be  submitted  to  Congress  for  its  assent. 
The  President,  by  proclamation,  shall  recognize  the 
government  thus  formed,  and  none  other,  as  the  estab 
lished  government  of  the  State. 

"This  bill  was  thrust  through  the  House  on  the 
day  it  was  reported.  The  Senate  passed  a  substitute 
entirely  changing  its  character;  but  after  attempts  to 


444  LIFE    OF   FRANCIS    P.  BLAIR,  JR. 

modify  in  Committee  of  Conference,  the  measure — 
which  was  in  fact  the  assumption  of  Congress  to  ordain 
the  fundamental  law  for  State  governments — was  ac 
cepted  and  passed  as  originally  reported  to  the  House. 
The  President,  in  his  proclamation  laying  this  bill  be 
fore  the  country,  with  his  reasons  for  not  signing  it, 
states  that  it  reached  him  for  his  approval  less  than  an 
hour  before  '  the  sine  die  adjournment  of  said  session.' 
u  But  the  President's  objection  was  not  to  the  plan 
of  construction  set  forth  in  the  bill.  It  was  that  Con 
gress  had  no  power  delegated  to  it  in  the  Constitution 
cf  the  United  States  to  make  State  constitutions ;  that 
under  the  theory  of  our  Government  this  power  be 
longed  to  the  people  of  the  States.  He  says  in  pro 
claiming  this  bill  as  a  measure  for  the  consideration 
of  the  country,  c  while  I  am  unprepared  by  a  formal 
approval  of  this  bill  to  be  committed  to  any  single  plan 
of  restoration  ;  and  while  I  am  also  unprepared  to  de 
clare  that  the  free  State  Constitutions  already  adopted 
and  installed  in  Arkansas  and  Louisiana  shall  be  set 
at  naught,  thereby  repelling  and  discouraging  the  loyal 
citizens  who  have  set  up  the  same  as  to  further  effort, 
or  to  declare  the  competency  in  Congress  to  abolish 
slavery  in  States,  but  am  at  the  same  time  sincerely 
hoping  and  expecting  that  a  constitutional  amend 
ment  abolishing  slavery  throughout  the  nation  may  be 
adopted ;  nevertheless  I  am  fully  satisfied  with  the 
system  for  restoration  contained  in  the  bill  AS  ONE 

VERY    PROPER    PLAN    FOR  THE  LOYAL   PEOPLE    OF  ANY  STATE 
CHOOSING  TO  ADOPT  IT.' 

uln  the  last  words,  marked  in  capitals,  as   they 


SPEECH    AT   SEYMOUR,  CONN.  445 

deserve  to  be,  the  President  proclaims  the  principle  on 
which  Congress  has  made  the  war  with  the  Executive 
Department,  which  threatens  revolution.  The  bill  car 
ried  through  the  House  in  a  day,  and  which  the  Senate, 
in  Committee  of  Conference,  accepted  in  an  evil  hour, 
and  which  it  was  demanded  of  the  President  he  should 
sign  in  less  than  an  hour,  was  designed  to  alter  the 
whole  frame  of  our  Government.  The  people  of  the 
States  originated  their  State  Governments.  They  con 
quered  their  independence  of  the  British  Government, 
and  they  then  created  the  Government  of  the  United 
States,  to  combine  and  guarantee  the  republican  State 
Governments.  All  our  governments,  local  and  na 
tional,  originate  with  the  people.  The  Davis  and 
Wade  bill  was  designed  to  reverse  the  whole  system, 
and  enable  Congress  to  create  State  Govenments  and 
make  them  what  it  chose  to  make  them.  Mr.  Lincoln 
said,  No :  I  am  willing  to  submit  your  plan  '  as  one 
very  proper  plan  for  the  loyal  people  of  any  State 
choosing  to  adopt  it.1  This  did  not  comply  with  the 
Davis  and  Wade  bill.  That  was  peremptory  law — 
compulsory — was  absolute  subjugation  of  the  people 
to  the  will  of  Congress.  The  stand  taken  for  this 
high-handed  measure  was  thus  asserted  in  the  pre 
amble  of  the  bill  as  sent  to  the  Senate.  c  Whereas, 
the  so-called  Confederate  States  are  a  public  enemy, 
waging  an  unjust  war,  whose  injustice  is  so  glaring 
that  they  have  no  right  to  claim  the  mitigation  of  the 
extreme  rights  of  war,  which  are  awarded  by  modern 
usage  to  an  enemy  who  has  a  right  to  consider  the  war 
a  just  one."1 


446  LIFE    OF    FRANCIS    P.  BLAIR,  JR. 

"  The  measure  thus  derives  its  principle  from  the 
assumption  that  the  rights  of  humanity  had  been  for 
feited  by  the  whole  Southern  people.  This  was  the 
starting  point  of  the  Eadical  party.  In  refusing  to 
sanction  it  and  give  a  new  origin  to  the  State  govern 
ments,  not  only  unwarranted  by  the  Constitution  of 
the  United  States,  but  incompatible  with  our  whole 
system  and  incompatible  with  the  idea  of  free  Govern 
ment,  '  founded  on  the  consent  of  the  governed/  the 
President  was  subject  to  violent  abuse  put  forth  in  an 
appeal  to  the  people  by  Wade  and  Davis,  the  Chair 
men*  of  the  Committees  of  the  two  Houses,  reporting 
the  bill.  'The  President  (they  said),  by  preventing 
this  bill  from  becoming  a  law,  holds  the  electoral  vote 
of  the  rebel  States  at  the  dictation  of  his  personal  am 
bition,  discards  the  authority  of  the  Supreme  Court 
and  strides  headlong  toward  the  anarchy  his  procla 
mation  of  the  8th  of  December  inaugurates.1  'A  more 
studied  outrage  on  the  legislative  authority  of  the  peo 
ple  has  never  been  inaugurated.*1  '  He  has  already  ex 
ercised  this  dictatorial  usurpation  in  Louisiana.*1 

u  They  further  tell  the  President '  that  the  authority 
of  Congress  is  paramount,  and  must  be  respected ;' 
'  that  the  whole  body  of  the  Union  men  of  Congress 
will  not  submit  to  be  impeached  by  him  of  rash  and 
unconstitutional  legislation,1  and  concludes,  if  they  do, 
'they  become  responsible  for  the  usurpations  which 
they  fail  to  rebuke,  and  are  justly  liable  to  the  indigna 
tion  of  the  people  whose  rights  and  security,  commit 
ted  to  their  keeping,  they  sacrifice.' 

"  In  defiance  of  this  elaborate  philippic,  circulated 


SPEECH    AT    SEYMOUR,  CONN.  447 

by  the  Radicals  all  over  the  country  to  defeat  the 
nomination  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  he  with  Mr.  Johnson  receiv 
ed  the  nomination  and  were  elected  by  the  Republican 
party  by  large  majorities. 

"  Towards  the  close  of  the  next,  session,  Louisiana, 
under  the  recommendation  of  the  President,  presented 
her  Constitution,  and  asked  admission  for  her  Sena 
tors  and  Representatives.  There  was  a  large  majority 
for  it,  but  it  was  defeated  by  what  is  called  filibuster 
ing,  never  before  resorted  to  in  the  Senate — speaking 
against  time — moving  simulated  amendments — calling 
the  yeas  and  nays,  and.  at  successive  intervals  moving 
adjournments,  with  the  yeas  and  nays,  until  by  this 
subterfuge  the  time  lapsed  for  sending  the  bill  to  the 
House  and  having  it  passed  before  the  constitutional 
term  of  Congress  expired.  In  this  dilatory  process  to 
defeat  the  admission  cf  Louisiana,  which  was  contin 
ued  through  the  night  until  the  morning  hours  of  the 
next  day,  Messrs.  Sumner,  Wade,  Chandler,  Howard, 
and  Brown,  were  the  corporal's  guard  of  Radicals  who 
fought  the  bill  to  the  death ;  all  the  rest  of  the  Radi 
cals  giving  in  their  adhesion  to  this  opening  measure 
to  restore  the  Union  with  the  advent  of  Mr.  Lincoln's 
second  inauguration,  which  followed  eight  days  after 
wards.  These  five  votes  prevented  it;  the  previous 
question  to  bring  a  bill  on  its  passage  being  denied  by 
the  rules  of  the  Senate.  These  five  votes  were  suffi 
cient,  by  the  abuse  of  the  rules  of  legislation  in  one 
branch  of  Congress,  to  defeat  representation  of  the 
South ;  to  defeat  the  public  opinion  of  the  great  body 
of  the  people  on  the  question  of  restoration ;  to  defeat 


448  LIFE    OF   FRANCIS    P.  BLAIR,  JR. 

the  will  of  the  Republican  party  expressed  in  the  Con 
vention  which  nominated  Mr.  Lincoln  in  defiance  of 
this  precise  issue  made  with  him  in  the  Wade  and 
Davis  Reconstruction  act,  which  with  their  manifesto 
in  support  of  this  measure  was  urged  as  vindicating 
the  rights  of  Congress  against  the  usurpations  of  the 
Executive,  arid  in  defiance  of  the  vast  popular  major 
ity,  which,  in  reflecting  the  President  on  this  very 
issue,  made  .  in  his  plan  for  restoring  the  Union,  held 
even  by  the  majority  in  Congress  that  had  voted  for 
the  Wade  and  Davis  bill  as  decisive  of  the  nation's 
will  upon  the  question.  It  appears,  however,  that 
others  of  the  Radicals  were  still  more  malcontent  than 
the  five  Senators  already  alluded  to,  and  the  following 
paragraph  from  the  New  York  Times  (Republican)  de 
clares  that  Mr.  Stevens  had  prefigured  for  Mr.  Lincoln 
the  fate  that  now  attends  his  successor : 

"  '  Thad.  Stevens  wishes  to  impeach  and  try  Presi 
dent  Lincoln  instead  of  his  successor.  The  first  accu 
sation  that  he  wished  to  have  made  was,  that  the  cul 
prit  u  did  erect  North  Carolina  and  the  other  conquered 
territories  into  States  and  relations,  giving  them  Gov 
ernments  of  his  own  creation,  and  appointing  over 
them  rulers  unknown  to  the  laws  of  the  United  States, 
and  who  could  not  by  any  such  laws  hold  any  office 
therein."  It  will  be  remembered  that  the  celebrated 
North  Carolina  proclamation  was  the  work  of  Mr. 
Lincoln.  It  will  be  remembered  that  it  was  Mr.  Lin 
coln  who  appointed  Stanley  Governor  of  North  Caro 
lina,  and  it  was  Mr.  Lincoln  who  did  several  and  sun 
dry  other  things  herein  charged.  It  is  well  that  the 


SPEECH    AT    SEYMOUR,  CONX.  449 

Senate  and  the  country  have  been  saved  from  this 
trial.' 

"  A  few  days  after  this  memorable  contest  in  the 
Senate,  Mr.  Lincoln  was  inaugurated  as  President  for 
his  second  term,  and  the  next  month  closed  the  rebel 
lion.  He  had  returned  from  the  scene  of  its  last 
struggle,  walked  through  Richmond  amidst  its  ruins, 
and  mingled,  without  the  ostentation  of  a  conqueror, 
with  the  people,  whom  he  accosted  as  fellow-citizens, 
after  the  surrender.  In  reaching  the  President's  house 
in  Washington,  he  told  the  crowd  that  gathered  around, 
1 1  would  much  prefer  having  this  demonstration  take 
place  to-morrow  evening,  as  I  would  then  be  much 
better  prepared  to  say  what  I  have  to  say.  Just  now 
I  am  not  ready  to  say  anything  that  one  in  my  posi 
tion  ought  to  say.1  His  heart  was  then  laboring  with 
the  great  design  of  bringing  back,  with  the  peace,  the 
Union  the  war  had  suspended.  On  that  next  day, 
when  the  people  assembled  around  his  portico,  he  de 
livered  from  a  carefully  prepared  MSS.  his  last  speech 
to  his  countrymen.  In  his  invitation,  asking  their  at 
tendance,  he  said,  '  you  know  every  thing  I  say  goe» 
into  print.  If  I  make  a  mistake,  it  does  not  affect 
merely  me  or  you,  but  the  country.1 

"  It  was  thus  he  prepared  the  public  for  the  import 
ant  purpose  he  had  to  announce.  It  was  to  make  an 
appeal  to  the  American  people  to  make  good  the 
pledges  that  had  been  given  by  the  Congress,  almost 
without  a  dissenting  voice,  that  the  war  was  waged, 
not  for  the  subjugation,  but  the  restoration  of  the  se 
ceding  States  with  all  their  rights  unimpaired — to  make 

29 


450  LIFE    OF    FRANCIS    P.  BLAIR,  JR. 

good  his  proclamation  invited  by  Congress,  granting 
the  amnesty  on  accepting  the  emancipation  proclama 
tion,  and  all  the  successive  cognate  measures,  which 
he,  in  virtue  of  his  military  rights  and  responsibilities, 
had  pledged  himself  should  be  crowned  by  the  con 
summation  of  that  grand  result — the  admission  of  the 
States  with  l  their  rights  unimpaired.'  Louisiana  had 
but  the  month  before,  with  a  Constitution  complying 
with  all  that  Congress  or  the  President  ever  suggested, 
been  excluded  by  chicanery  of  five  members  of  the 
Senate  employing  the  technicalities  of  the  rules  and 
speaking  against  time  in  the  closing  hours  of  a  session 
to  shut  the  door  in  her  face.  Louisiana  was  the  pio 
neer  State,  and  as  the  rest  became  prepared,  accom 
modating  their  Constitutions  to  the  conditions  pro 
claimed  before  the  close  of  the  war,  the  President 
looked  to  the  harmonious  coming  together  of  all  the 
States  by  their  voluntary  action — with  Governments 
erected  by  themselves,  deriving  their  authority  from 
the  consent  of  the  governed.  In  his  proclamation  of 
dissent  to  the  Wade-Davis  bill,  he  put  it  on  the  ground 
that  the  bill  created  a  Constitution  having  neither 
origin  or  adoption  in  the  will  of  the  people,  though  he 
submitted  it  to  them  'as  one  very  proper  plan  for  the 
loyal  people  of  any  State  choosing  to  adopt  it/ 

"It  was  upon  this  issue  that  the  Radicals  split 
with  Mr.  Lincoln,  and  from  the  mass  of  the  people 
who  elected  him  in  spite  of  their  denunciation  of  him, 
in  Congress  and  out  of  it,  which  followed.  An  at 
tempt  was  made  to  defeat  his  nomination  by  the  Con 
vention  upon  this  issue.  Another  to  set  it  aside  by 


SPEECH   AT    SEYMOUR,  CONN.  451 

calling  another  Eepublican  Convention.  A  third  by 
setting  up  Fremont  as  an  independent  candidate.  But 
all  were  crushed  by  public  opinion,  and  his  position  in 
favor  of  restoration  was  sustained  in  his  election  by  a 
vote  of  nearly  half  a  million  majority. 

"  In  the  crowning  speech  of  his  career,  the  last  ap 
peal  to  his  country,  he  reviewed  the  great  measure 
which  had  been  defeated  by  the  contrivances  of  five 
indignant  Radical  Senators,  in  defiance  of  the  will  of 
the  nation  and  the  legislative  body  of  which  they  were 
members.  He  alluded  to  the  attacks  made  on  him  as 
an  usurper,  &c.,  by  the  manifesto  of  Davis  and  Wade; 
the  threat  of  impeachment  by  Stevens ;  the  intrigues 
of  his  rivals  proposing  various  political  machinery  for 
his  overthrow,  in  very  gentle  phrase,  saying :  i  As  a 
general  rule,  I  abstain  from  reading  the  reports  of  at 
tacks  upon  myself,  wishing  not  to  be  provoked  by  that 
to  which  I  cannot  properly  answer.  In  spite  of  this 
precaution,  however,  it  comes  to  my  knowledge  that  I 
am  much  censured  from  some  supposed  agency  of  mine 
in  setting  up  and  seeking  to  sustain  the  new  State 
Government  of  Louisiana.  In  this  I  have  done  just 
so  much  and  no  more  than  the  public  knows.'  He 
then  gives  the  history  of  the  plan  which  General 
Banks,  the  Military  Governor  of  Louisiana,  had  dur 
ing  the  war,  after  consulting  the  loyal  people  of  the 
State  upon  the  President's  suggestions,  subjected  to  the 
action  of  a  popular  Convention,  and  made  the  basis  of 
a  State  Constitution  to  adapt  it  to  the  renewal  of  its 
relations  in  the  Union.  He  made  suggestions,  but  no 
exactions,  and  the  ' system  of  restoration'  which  the 


452  LIFE    OF   FRANCIS    P.  BLAIR,  JR. 

people  of  Louisiana  adopted,  was  'one  very  proper 
plan  for  the  loyal  people  of  any  State  choosing  to  adopt 
it.'  Many  chose  to  adopt  it,  and  insist  upon  it,  with 
the  Wade-Davis  plan  before  them,  as  well  as  the  Presi 
dent's  suggestions.  The  Government  of  Louisiana, 
thus  accommodated  by  vote  of  its  people  to  meet  the 
results  of  the  war,  was  approved  by  the  whole  of  Mr. 
Lincoln's  cabinet,  and  4  when  the  message  went  to  Con 
gress,'  he  adds,  '  I  received  many  commendations  of 
the  plan,  written  and  verbal,  and  not  a  single  objection 
to  it  from  any  professed  emancipationist  came  to  my 
knowledge  until  after  the  news  reached  Washington 
that  the  people  of  Louisiana  had  begun  to  move  in 
accordance  with  it.' 

"  Now  let  me  give  in  the  words  of  Mr.  Lincoln 
what  the  people  had  done,  which  so  affected  the  little 
junto  at  Washington  on  the  arrival  of  its  news. 

"  '  Some  twelve  thousand  voters  in  the  heretofore 
slave  State  of  Louisiana  have  sworn  allegiance  to  the 
laws,  assumed  to  be  the  rightful  political  power  of  the 
State,  held  elections,  organized  a  State  government, 
adopted  a  free  constitution,  giving  the  benefit  of 
schools  equally  to  black  and  white,  and  impowering 
the  Legislature  to  confer  the  elective  franchise  upon 
the  colored  man.  The  Legislature  has  voted  already 
to  ratify  the  constitutional  amendment  recently  passed 
by  Congress  abolishing  slavery  throughout  the  na 
tion.  These  twelve  thousand  persons  are  already 
committed  to  the  Union  and  to  perpetual  freedom  in 
the  States,  committed  to  the  very  things  and  nearly  all 
the  things  the  nation  wants,  and  they  ask  the  nation's 


SPEECH    AT    SEYMOUR,  CONN.  453 

recognition  and  its  assistance  to  make  good  that  recog 
nition  ;  now  if  we  reject  and  spurn  them,  we  do  our  ut 
most  to  disorganize  and  disperse  them.' 

"  He  contrasts  the  design  of  the  Radical  faction, 
who  had  made  manifest  their  purpose  to  4  to  disorganize 
and  disperse '  the  Union  element,  with  the  manner  in 
which  he  and  his  friends  met  the  advances  of  the 
twelve  thousand  voters  of  Louisiana  that  sought  a 
welcome  in  the  homes  of  their  fathers.  To  the  men 
who,  like  Sumner,  Stevens,  and  the  rest,  held  that  the 
States  had  committed  suicide,  that  their  constitutions 
were  tabula  rasa,  that  their  people  were  foreign  sub 
jugated  subjects,  but  who  yet  agreed  with  him  in  the 
idea  c  that  the  sole  object  of  the  Government,  civil 
and  military,  in  regard  to  these  States  is  to  again  get 
them  into  their  proper  practical  relations '  in  the  Union, 
he.  said,  '  I  believe  it  is  not  only  possible,  but,  in  fact, 
easier  to  do  this  without  deciding  or  even  considering 
whether  these  States  have  ever  been  out  of  the  Union, 
than  with  it.  Finding  themselves  safely  at  home,  it 
would  be  utterly  immaterial  whether  they  had  ever  been 
abroad.  Let  us  all  join  in  the  acts  necessary  to  restor 
ing  the  proper  practical  relation  between  these  States 
and  the  Union,  and  each  forever  after  innocently  in 
dulge  his  own  opinion,  whether  in  doing  the  acts  he 
brought  the  States  from  without  into  the  Union,  or 
only  gave  them  proper  assistance,  they  never  having 
been  out  of  it.' 

"  His  doctrine  was  *  they  never  had  been  out,'  or 
could  go  out,  or  be  put  out ;  but,  as  a  practical  man, 
he  was  willing  to  put  that  question  aside ;  all  he 


454  LIFE    OF    FRANCIS    P.  BLAIR,  JR. 

asked  of  those  who  assumed  to  be  real  Union  men 
was  'proper  assistance1  in  bringing  about  that  Union. 
He  wanted  them  to  prove  their  faith  by  affording 
proper  assistance  to  Louisiana.  'We  encourage  the 
hearts  and  nerve  the  arms  of  the  twelve  thousand  to 
adhere  to  their  work,  and  argue  for  it,  and  proselyte 
for  it,  and  fight  for  it,  and  feed  it,  and  grow  it,  and 
ripen  it  to  a  complete  success.  The  colored  man,  too, 
all  united  for  him,  is  inspired  with  vigilance,  and 
energy,  and  doing  to  the  same  end.  Grant  that  he 
desires  the  elective  franchise,  will  he  not  attain  it 
sooner  by  saving  the  already  advanced  steps  towards 
it,  than  by  running  backward  over  them  ?  Concede 
that  the  new  government  of  Louisiana  is  only,  to  what 
it  should  be,  as  is  the  egg  to  the  fowl ;  we  shall  sooner 
have  the  fowl  by  hatching  it,  than  by  smashing  it/ 

"  The  last  business  hours  of  his  life  were  given  to 
this  engrossing  subject  of  bringing  the  States  to  em 
brace  each  other.  On  the  14th  of  April,  three  days 
after  his  speech  that  may  be  called  his  legacy  to  his 
countrymen,  and  just  before  he  went  to  the  theatre, 
he  had  a  cabinet  meeting  on  the  policy  he  had,  in  con 
junction  with  the  people  of  the  South,  devised  to 
make  the  pacification  perfect.  His  biographer,  Mr. 
Barret  (formerly  the  head  of  the  Pension  Office,  and 
who  seems  to  have  been  on  intimate  terms  with  him), 
says  :  '  At  the  meeting  of  the  cabinet,  14th  April,  he 
was  in  unusually  buoyant  spirits ;  his  remaining  labors 
evidently  seemed  lighter  than  ever  before — his  glad 
some  humor  was  noticed  by  his  friends.'  He  then 
quotes  Secretary  Stan  ton's  despatch  thus :  c  April  14. 


SPEECH    AT    SEYMOUR,  CONN.  455 

At  a  cabinet  meeting  at  which.  General  Grant  was 
present  to-day,  the  subject  pf  the  States  and  the  pros 
pect  of  speedy  peace  was  discussed.  The  President 
was  very  cheerful  and  hopeful — spoke  very  kindly  of 
General  Lee  and  others  of  the  Confederacy,  and  the 
establishment  of  government  in  Virginia.' 

"  This  is  very  significant  of  Mr.  Stanton,  for  the 
President's  nearest  friends  had  made  it  known,  soon 
after  his  death,  that  he  had  observed  that  his  Secre 
tary  of  War  had  been  intimate,  before  the  election, 
with  those  hostile  with  his  policy,  to  which  Mr. 
Stanton  by  his  despatch  would  seem  again  to  give  in 
his  adhesion.  General  Grant's  presence,  too,  at  this 
Cabinet,  called  to  discuss  Virginia's  establishment  in 
her  relations  with  the  Union,  identifies  him  with  the 
President's  labors  for  that  purpose.  General  Grant 
and  Mr.  Stanton,  in  their  testimony  before  the  Im 
peachment  Committee,  corroborate  this  statement,  Mr. 
Stanton  admitting  that  he  prepared  the  North  Caro 
lina  proclamation  at  Mr.  Lincoln's  request,  and  General 
Grant  saying  that  he  heard  it  read  in  Cabinet  in  pres 
ence  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  and  that  the  Cabinet  concurred  in 
the  policy  it  initiated,  adding  that  it  was  the  same 
proclamation  in  substance,  and  he  believed  in  language, 
which  was  afterwards  issued  by  Mr.  Johnson  when  he 
became  President.  He  also  testified  that  he  approved 
this  programme.  Soon  after  Mr.  Lincoln's  death, 
General  Grant  showed  his  zeal  for  the  great  object  he 
had  at  heart  by  making  a  journey  through  Virginia 
and  other  States,  and  reporting  favorably  of  their  dis 
position  and  fitness  for  restoration,  saying  that  they 


456  LIFE    OF    FRANCIS    P.   BLAIR,  JR. 

accepted  in  good  faith  the  situation  in  which  it  was 
proposed  to  place  them,  and  suggested  an  early  meet 
ing  in  Congress  of  the  Southern  representation  with 
that  of  the  North.  With  eagerness  and  solicitude  the 
President,  who  had  triumphed  in  the  war,  had  sought 
to  heal  the  wounds  it  had  made,  to  give  comfort  to  the 
broken-hearted,  and  above  all  things  tending  to  the 
blessed  consummation,  to  bind  up  the  broken  members 
of  the  Union.  General  Grant — at  the  crisis  when  the 
Junta  in  Congress,  who  opened  against  Lincoln,  per 
sonally,  the  war  they  now  prosecute  with  fiendish 
malice  against  his  policy — did  not  countenance,  as  he 
does  now,  their  destructive  measures.  On  the  contrary, 
he  allied  himself  with  his  counsels,  which  Mr.  Lincoln, 
in  his  last  speech,  tells  his  countrymen,  *  every  member 
of  the  Cabinet  fully  approved.'  What  could  have 
drawn  General  Grant's  fealty  from  the  patriotic  cause 
of  restoration,  as  inaugurated  by  Lincoln's  reelection? 
It  was  so  fully  approved  by  the  voice  of  the  nation 
that  the  great  body  of  the  Republicans,  who  had  sup 
ported  the  Wade-Davis  bill — the  antagonist  scheme — 
gave  it  up.  It  was  based  on  a  denial  to  the  people  of 
the  South  of  the  right  to  make  their  own  constitutions, 
assuming  it  for  the  rump  Congress — the  Representa 
tives  of  another  section.  Lincoln  would  recognize  no 
scheme  for  the  reorganization  of  the  State  government, 
unless  the  people  chose  to  adopt  it.  This  was  the 
diverging  point  between  the  President  and  his  Radical 
opponents  in  Congress.  The  overwhelming  voice  of 
the  nation  for  a  time  induced  the  mass  of  that  party  to 
resign  their  opposition  to  his  principles  and  measures. 


SPEECH    AT    SEYMOUR,  CONN.  457 

On  his  death  their  hostility  revived,  but  it  did  not 
manifest  itself  until  the  meeting  of  Congress  after  the 
inauguration  of  Mr.  Johnson.  His  message,  exhibiting 
the  acquiescence  of  the  whole  South  in  his  predeces 
sor's  policy,  gave  universal  satisfaction.  The  press  at 
home  and  abroad  were  full  of  congratulations  on  its 
happy  auguries.  But  the  malcontents  in  Congress, 
who  had  enjoyed  during  the  war  unlimited  power — 
who  had  rioted  on  public  plunder — quickly  saw  that 
if  the  happy  intercourse  between  the  North  and  South 
was  restored,  and  with  it  law  and  order  and  regular 
business,  enormous  issues  of  paper  money  would  cease, 
enormous  contracts  and  jobs  would  no  more  be  put  up 
as  national  stakes  to  be  gambled  for — cotton  specula 
tions  would  escape  from  legislative  and  judicial  manip 
ulation  and  become  business  transactions,  and  our 
billions  of  taxation  would  shrink  to  modest  millions. 
The  regulated  Government  that  once  made  our  coun 
try  so  prosperous  is  ill-suited  to  the  genius  of  public 
men  who  before  the  war  felt  that  nothing  but  bare 
boarding  could  be  made  by  Congressional  labor,  but 
who  now  find  themselves  living  in  magnificent  palaces 
of  their  own — discussing  openly  and  complacently  the 
proper  moment  for  changing  the  Government  into  one 
in  which  the  President  and  Senate  shall  be  chosen  for 
life  —  while  their  friends,  the  contractors,  in  their 
respective  States,  are  erecting  villas,  manufacturing 
monopolies,  banking  establishments,  and  other  grand 
privileged  instrumentalities  of  wealth  that  dwarf  all 
that  the  best-directed  individual  industry  can  do  in 
competition.  Unsettled  times  suit  political  operators 


458  LIFE    OF   FRANCIS    P.  BLAIR,  JR. 

and  adventurers  whose  skill  is  their  only  capital. 
When  such  men  reach  a  place  in  legislative  bodies, 
constitutional  rule  is  to  them  like  a  sheepfold  against 
wolves.  Hence  the  eagerness  with  which  they  seek  to 
throw  them  down.  The  death  of  Mr.  Lincoln  was  for 
these  wolves  like  the  death  of  the  shepherd.  From 
that  moment  their  hopes  revived.  During  his  life  they 
had  been  driven  in  despair  to  filibustering  to  keep  the 
South  out  of  the  fold,  now  they  saw  the  ten  States 
exposed,  only  protected  by  the  strength  of  one  man  of 
the  section  already  vanquished  by  arms.  Lincoln's 
power  was  derived  from  his  popularity  in  the  victorious 
States.  The  men  whom  Lincoln  had  kept  at  bay  were 
themselves  the  leaders  in  that  section,  and  against  them 
the  Vice-President  could  not  maintain  the  mastery  as 
the  President  himself  had  in  the  region  that  elected 
him  to,  power.  Hence  the  men  who  seized  the  oppor 
tunity  of  Lincoln's  death,  rejoicing  in  it  as  opening  the 
way  to  make  spoil  of  the  unresisting  States  of  the 
South,  to  use  them  for  the  purposes  of  their  ambition 
and  avarice,  were  glad,  as  dissembling  mourners,  to 
follow  the  hearse  of  the  dead  President  throughout  the 
North,  pretending  homage  to  the  statesman  whose 
whole  policy  they  had  attempted  to  thwart.  They 
had  been  defeated  and  rebuked  for  it  by  his  reelection, 
and  by  that  reelection  were  called  back  to  accomplish 
it,  in  spite  of  their  reluctance.  The  revenge  they 
dared  not  try  to  wreak  on  the  principal  by  whom  they 
were  once  repulsed,  they  resolved  to  take  of  his  suc 
cessor,  the  Vice-President.  The  acclaim  he  received 
for  his  message,  adopting  Mr.  Lincoln's  Union  pro- 


SPEECH    AT    SEYMOUR,  CONN.  459 

gramme,  Lad  hardly  ceased  to  ring  in  his  ears  when 
old  Thad.  Stevens  and  his  subterranean  caucus  broke 
their  cell  and  denounced  the  Presidential  plan,  re 
pulsed  the  Southern  States  which  had  adopted  it,  and 
sent  their  Representatives  home  from  the  Capitol. 
From  that  day  to  this  Mr.  Johnson  ceased  to  be  Presi 
dent,  even  de  facto.  A  part  of  Lincoln's  Cabinet, 
which  he  retained,  always  at  heart  hostile  to  Lincoln's 
policy,  betrayed  Johnson  to  the  Rump  Congress  and 
used  the  power  of  his  administration  to  destroy  him. 
The  impeachment  now  is  necessary  only  to  satisfy  the 
malice  which  would  have  the  gratification  of  a  formal 
removal.  Thad.  Stevens  threatened  it  against  Lincoln 
to  accomplish  what  is  already  practically  against 
Johnson.  The  Rump  have  exerted  almost  despotic 
power  from  the  death  of  Mr.  Lincoln.  They  have 
complete  command  of  the  army,  all  orders  to  be  obeyed 
being  derived  through  Grant  and  Sherman  issuing 
them,  and  the  civil  departments  are,  with  their  patron 
age,  almost  entirely  at  their  devotion  throughout  the 
country  as  well  as  in  Washington.  The  laws  are  made 
over  the  President.  Johnson  could  do  nothing  but 
fulminate  vetoes  to  make  their  daring  acts  in  defiance 
of  the  Constitution  the  more  conspicuous.  They  fell 
on  the  bronze  of  Thaddeus  and  his  comrades  as  Priam's 
darts  from  the  brazen  shield  of  Pyrrhus.  All  the 
miseries  of  the  country  for  the  last  three  years  are 
attributable  to  the  Jacobins  and  their  committees  that 
have  traversed  and  worried  the  country.  The  military 
government  to  which  the  South  has  been  consigned,  to 
give  the  army  the  control  of  both  South  and  North  in 


460  LIFE    OF   FRANCIS    P.  BLAIR,  JR. 

the  election  of  President  and  the  next  Congress  under 
the  sham  of  negro  suffrage,  is  but  a  blending  of  Crom 
well's  and  Louis  Napoleon's  precedent  to  make  an  em 
pire  out  of  universal  suffrage  controlled  by  the  army. 
No  one  can  mistake  the  real  issue  upon  which  the 
Radicals  separated  from  Mr.  Lincoln,  nor  will  it  be 
denied  that  whenever  it  has  been  fairly  placed  before 
the  country  it  has  been  decided  against  them.  It  was 
thus  decided  in  his  renomination  and  reelection. 
Taught  by  this  experience  they  avoided  making  this 
issue  in  the  election  by  which  the  present  Congress 
was  returned,  and  actually  went  into  it  upon  an  amend 
ment  to  the  Constitution  which  conceded  the  right  of 
the  States  to  determine  the  question  of  suffrage  for 
themselves.  Having  thus  fraudulently  secured  a  new 
lease  of  power,  they  promptly  violated  the  principle 
of  their  own  amendment  and  passed  their  reconstruc 
tion  acts  giving  universal  suffrage  in  the  South  to  the 
blacks,  and  disfranchising  as  many  of  the  white  men 
as  they  deemed  sufficient  to  secure  negro  supremacy  in 
those  States.  Thus  the  issue  came  once  more  before 
the  people  of  the  North,  and  in  every  election  which 
has  been  held  since  the  passage  of  these  acts  the  Radi 
cals  have  been  ignominiously  defeated,  and  the  attempt 
to  impose  negro  suffrage  rebuked.  They  nevertheless 
persist  in  forcing  these  condemned  measures  upon  the 
country.  They  are  determined  to  maintain  them 
against  the  clear  majority  of  the  people  of  both  sections. 
Under  these  acts  three  millions  of  ignorant  negroes 
have  been  made  supreme  over  six  millions  of  the  white 
race  in  the  South,  and  the  Congressional  representation 


SPEECH   AT    SEYMOUR,  CONN. 


and  electoral  vote  thus  controlled  is  relied  upon  to 
overcome  the  majority  against  the  Radicals  in  the 
North.  Negro  supremacy  is  not  confined  to  the  South ; 
it  extends  itself  to  the  North,  and  enables  a  minority 
to  control  a  majority  in  both  sections.  It  is  clear  now 
that  the  Rump  Congress  has  constituted  itself  the 
supreme  power — the  entire  Government.  The  Presi 
dent  is  subjugated  and  obeys  its  laws,  constitutional  or 
not.  The  Supreme  Court,  whilst  ready  with  its  judg 
ment  on  the  question  of  conflicting  constitutional  power 
between  the  Congress  and  the  President,  submits  to  a 
law  passed  by  Congress  made  expressly  to  forbid  its 
discharge  of  this,  its  constitutional  function.  The  army 
takes  and  obeys  leaders  given  through  General  Grant 
and  Secretary  Stanton,  independently  of  the  Chief 
Magistrate,  the  Commander-in-Chief,  in  Virtue  of  a 
law  passed  by  Congress  to  strip  the  President  of  his 
direct  and  express  constitutional  authority ;  Grant  and 
Stanton  having  acted  on  the  principle  that  their  duty 
made  such  law  their  rule,  the  order  of  the  President  to 
the  contrary  notwithstanding.  This  makes  Congress 
absolute.  The  next  step  is  to  make  perpetual  this 
absolutism  in  Congress.  This  is  to  be  accomplished 
by  the  electing,  through  the  negro  vote  polled  under 
army  orders,  twenty  Senators  and  some  fifty  Repre 
sentatives  from  the  disfranchised  States.  This  acces 
sion,  even  if  the  Radicals  poll  only  a  considerable 
minority  in  the  free  States,  will  carry  the  Presidency 
and  a  sufficient  vote  into  the  next  Congress,  added  to 
the  negro-elected  Senators  and  Representatives,  to 
make  the  Constitution  what  the  Radicals  want  it  to  be. 


462  LIFE    OF   FRANCIS    P.  BLAIR,  JR. 

They  may  make  the  President  hold  for  one  term  of 
ten  years,  or  for  life,  and  so  of  the  Senators  and  Rep 
resentatives.  This  was  the  process  by  which  the  Gov 
ernments  of  England  and  France  emerged  from  their 
revolution,  establishing  republics  into  empires,  with  a 
monarch  and  a  nobility,  to  substitute  a  popular  sover 
eignty." 

As  the  time  wore  on  it  became  known  that  Gen 
eral  Blair  would  support  the  candidate  of  the  Demo 
cratic  party  in  the  Presidential  Campaign  of  1868, 
and  many  of  his  friends  began  to  advance  his  name  for 
nomination  by  the  Convention.  As  the  meeting  of  the 
Convention  drew  nearer,  General  Blair  yielded  to  the 
solicitations  of  his  friends,  and  consented  to  allow  his 
name  to  the  brought  before  that  body.  In  order,  how 
ever,  that  there  might  be  no  misunderstanding  as  to 
the  views  he  entertained,  he  made  public  a  letter  which 
he  had  written  to  a  gentleman  in  Missouri,  in  reply  to 
certain  questions  propounded  by  the  latter : 

u  WASHINGTON,  June  30. 
"  Colonel  Jas.  0.  Broadhead. 

"  Dear  Colonel :  In  reply  to  your  inquiries,  I  beg 
leave  to  say  that  I  leave  to  you  to  determine,  on  con 
sultation  with  my  friends  from  Missouri,  whether  my 
name  shall  be  presented  to  the  Democratic  Convention, 
and  to  submit  the  following,  as  what  I  consider  the 
real  and  only  issue  in  this  contest, 

u  The  reconstruction  policy  of  the  Eadicals  will  be 
complete  before  the  next  election  ;  the  States,  so  long 
excluded,  will  have  been  admitted ;  negro  suffrage  es- 


LETTER   TO    COL.  BROADIIEAD.  463 

tablislied  and  the  carpet-baggers  installed  in  their  seats 
in  both  branches  of  Congress.  There  is  no  possibility 
of  changing  the  political  character  of  the  Senate,  even 
if  the  Democrats  should  elect  their  President  and  a 
majority  of  the  popular  branch  of  Congress.  We 
cannot,  therefore,  undo  the  Radical  plan  of  reconstruc 
tion  by  Congressional  action  ;  the  Senate  will  continue  a 
bar  to  its  repeal.  Must  we  submit  to  it  ?  How  can 
it  be  overthrown  ?  It  can  only  be  overthrown  by  the 
authority  of  the  Executive,  who  is  sworn  to  maintain 
the  Constitution,  and  who  will  fail  to  do  his  duty  if  he 
allows  the  Constitution  to  perish  under  a  series  of  Con 
gressional  enactments  which  are  in  palpable  violation 
of  its  fundamental  principles. 

"  If  the  President  elected  by  the  Democracy  enfor 
ces  or  permits  others  to  enforce  these  Reconstruction 
acts,  the  Radicals,  by  the  accession  of  twenty  spu 
rious  Senators  and  fifty  Representatives  will  control 
both  branches  of  Congress,  and  his  administration 
will  be  as  powerless  as  the  present  one  of  Mr.  John 
son. 

"  There  is  but  one  way  to  restore  the  Government  and 
the  Constitution,  and  that  is  for  the  President  elect  to 
declare  these  acts  null  and  void,  compel  the  army  to 
undo  its  usurpations  at  the  South,  disperse  the  carpet 
bag  State  governments,  allow  the  white  people  to  reor 
ganize  their  own  governments  and  elect  Senators  and 
Representatives.  The  House  of  Representatives  will 
contain  a  majority  of  Democrats  from  the  North,  and 
they  will  admit  the  Representatives  elected  by  the 
white  people  of  the  South,  and  with  the  co-operation 


464  LIFE    OF   FRANCIS    P.  BLAIR,  JR. 

of  the  President  it  will  not  be  difficult  to  compel  the 
Senate  to  submit  once  more  to  the  obligations  of  the 
Constitution.  It  will  not  be  able  to  withstand  the 
public  judgment,  if  distinctly  invoked  and  clearly  ex 
pressed,  on  this  fundamental  issue,  and  it  is  the  sure 
way  to  avoid  all  future  strife  to  put  this  issue  plainly 
to  the  country. 

u  I  repeat  that  this  is  the  real  and  only  question 
which  we  should  allow  to  control  us  :  Shall  we  submit 
to  the  usurpations  by  which  the  Government  has  been 
overthrown,  or  shall  we  exert  ourselves  for  its  full  and 
complete  restoration.  It  is  idle  to  talk  of  bonds, 
greenbacks,  gold,  the  public  faith  and  the  public  credit. 
What  can  a  Democratic  President  do  in  regard  to 
any  of  these  with  a  Congress  in  both  branches  con 
trolled  by  the  carpet-baggers  and  their  allies  ?  He 
will  be  powerless  to  stop  the  supplies  by  which  idle 
negroes  are  organized  into  political  clubs — by  which  an 
army  is  maintained  to  protect  these  vagabonds  in  their 
outrages  upon  the  ballot.  These,  and  things  like  these, 
eat  up  the  revenues  and  resources  of  the  Government 
and  destroy  its  credit,  make  the  difference  between  gold 
and  greenbacks.  We  must  restore  the  Constitution 
before  we  can  restore  the  finances,  and  to  do  this 
we  must  have  a  President  who  will  execute  the  will  of 
the  people  by  trampling  into  dust  the  usurpations  of 
Congress,  known  as  the  Reconstruction  acts.  I  wish 
to  stand  before  the  Convention  upon  this  issue,  but 
it  is  one  which  embraces  every  thing  else  that  is  of 
value  in  its  large  and  comprehensive  results.  It  is 
the  one  thing  that  includes  all  that  is  worth  a  contest, 


STATEMENT    OF    THE    "  HERALD/1  465 

and  without  it  there  is  nothing   that   gives  dignity, 
honor,  or  value  to  the  struggle. 
u  Your  friend, 

"FRANK  P.  BLAIR." 

This  letter*  gave  great  offence    to  the  Radicals, 

*  The  New  York  Herald,  during  the  session  of  the  Convention  pub 
lished  the  following  interesting  account  of  an  interview  with  General 
Blair  : 

"  The  Missouri  delegation  being  a  unit  in  favor  of  General  Frank  Blair 
for  President,  and  many  of  the  Western  men,  as  well  as  a  strong  party 
in  the  Soldiers  and  Sailors'  Convention,  supporting  him,  our  reporter 
called  on  the  General  yesterday  at  the  Worth  House  with  a  view 
of  learning  the  grounds  on  which  he  based  his  hopes  of  nomination  by 
the  Democratic  party.  General  Blair  very  courteously  stated  that  he 
was  very  willing  to  make  known  his  principles,  although  his  recent  letter 
should  have  settled  that  matter.  Oui»  reporter  ackowledged  having  read 
the  letter,  but  with  a  view  of  eliciting  a  clearer  statement  asked  if  the 
General  did  not  consider,  on  a  reconsideration  of  the  matter,  that  his 
views  on  the  reconstruction  laws  and  the  duties  of  the  next  President  in 
regard  to  them  might  not  have  the  effect  of  frightening  many  thousands 
who,  although  not  Radicals,  echo  General  Grant's  demand  for  peace? 
The  General  then  spoke  in  substance  as  follows : — 

"  I  do  not  think  that  people  would  be  alarmed  at  the  prospect  of  un 
doing  the  infamous  acts  of  Congress,  and  I  do  not  believe  in  lying  and 
double  dealing  even  for  the  office  of  President  of  the  United  States.  It 
is  better  that  the  truth  should  be  known  at  once.  Alarm  the  people  ? 
Why,  they  are  r.larmed  now.  The  country  is  in  revolution  ;  the  liberties 
of  one-half  of  the  citizens  of  this  country  have  been  destroyed,  and  that 
of  the  other  half  threatened.  Our  commerce  has  been  swept  from  the 
seas,  and  the  republic  is  insulted  in  the  persons  of  her  citizens  by  a  gov 
ernment  hostile  during  our  war  and  hostile  still.  It  will  not  serve  the 
cause  of  the  people  by  putting  in  a  President  with  the  same  set  of  opin 
ions  as  the  present  occupant  of  the  White  House.  WThat  more  could 
Chase  or  Pendleton  do  than  Johnson?  Nothing  more;  and  the  car 
pet-bag  Congres?,  which  will  virtually  rule  the  country,  no  matter  who  is 
President  (unless  means  not  yet  tried  are  used  to  prevent  it),  will  merely 
have  a  new  '  man  at  the  other  end  of  the  avenue '  to  laugh  at  and  over 
ride.  If  the  madness  of  Congress  is  not  checked  we  will  have  in  the 
South  an  Ireland  or  a  Poland,  and  periodical  insurrections  will  give  vent 
30 


466  LIFE    OF   FRANCIS    P.  BLAIR,  JR. 

and  they,  of  course  professed  to  view  it  as  a  threat 
on  the  part  of  Gen.  Blair.  Since  the  publication 
of  the  letter  they  have  been  whining  through  the 
country  about  "  Blair's  revolution "  until  they  have 
drawn  not  a  little  ridicule  upon  themselves.  Gen. 
Blair,  however,  was  far  from  threatening  a  resort 
to  illegal  measures.  He  meant  simply  that  the  work 
of  the  Radicals  in  the  South,  being  illegal,  could, 
and  ought  to  be,  undone  peaceably  and  by  legal 
means.  His  brother,  the  Hon.  Montgomery  Blair, 
in  a  speech  recently  delivered  in  Virginia,  makes  plain 
the  meaning  of  the  letter.  Mr.  Blair  says : 

"  This  is  the  language  called  revolutionary,  and 
said  t£>  menace.  There  is  no  such  thought  in  it.  It  is 
an  appeal  to  the  ballot,  and  it  is  the  Radicals  alone 
who  talk  of  war  and  are  making  preparations  for  it. 
In  connection  with  the  elections,  General  Blair  and 
the  Democratic  party  invoke  the  judgment  of  the 

to  the  aspirations  of  the  people  for  liberty.  There  are  indications,  too, 
that  the  West  will  not  quietly  submit  to  be  ruined  by  the  Radicals  much 
longer.  Under  these  circumstances  I  think  it  is  only  right  and  p  oper 
that  the  people  should  know  where  I  stand,  and  why  I  am  a  candidate 
for  the  Presidency.  I  think  that  the  fin.-mcial  and  every  other  question 
stai-ted  to  blind  the  eyes  of  the  people  and  conce.dthe  real  issue  is  of  small 
importance  at  present.  The  country  must  fir>t  be  saved  from  the  im 
pending  ruin  and  the  supremacy  of  the  constitution  established  before 
those  questions  can  be  properly  taken  up.  The  first  duty  of  a  Democrat 
ic  government  should  be  to  vindicate  American  l.onor  in  the  mat  er  of 
the  imprisonment  and  punishment  as  felons  of  American  ci  izens  in  Eng 
land  and  Ireland  on  suspicion  and  without  proof.  The  prisoners  should 
be  demanded  at  the  cannon^s  mouth,  witli  proper  apologies  and  a  suffi 
cient  indemnity  for  the  outrages.' 

"  Our  reporter,  after  thanking  the  General  f>r  his  ready  courtesy, 
which  contrasted  very  favorably  with  the  conduct  of  other  parties  inte 
rested  in  the  Presidential  nomination,  then  withdrew. 


SPEECH    OF   HON.  M.  BLAIR.  467 

people  on  the  issue  joined  with  the  Radicals  on  the 
validity  of  their  measures,  and  they  propose  to  carry 
the  judgment  of  the  people  into  effect  by  the  officer 
elected  for  that  purpose  by  them.  There  can  be  no 
war  unless  the  Radicals  make  it  to  resist  the  judgment 
of  the  people  who  are  or  ought  to  be  final  arbiters. 
What,  then,  does  this  outcry  from  the  Radicals  mean, 
but  that  they  will  resist  the  judgment  asked  for  by  the 
Democracy.  They  deceived  the  people  as  to  their  in 
tentions  in  respect  to  these  measures,  and  secured  their 
present  power  in  Congress  by  denying  that  they  con 
templated  any  such  abuses  of  it.  They  hastened  to 
prostitute  it  to  subvert  the  civil  government  and  set  up 
military  governments  in  the  South,  now  to  be  used 
to  defeat  the  wishes  of  the  people  in  the  North,  and 
then  put  forward  the  commander  of  the  army  as  their 
candidate,  and  gave  him  the  army  to  elect  himself, 
substantially  inviting  him  to  seize  power,  whether 
elected  or  not  by  the  people.  This  conduct  shows 
their  determination  to  forestall  and  defeat  the  will  of 
the  people.  The  menace  of  war  which  they  now  make 
themselves,  but  falsely  impute  to  their  opponents,  be 
cause  the  judgment  of  the  people  is  invoked  against 
them,  only  illustrates  and  puts  in  broad  light  their  de 
termination  to  hold  power  at  all  hazards.  That,  at 
least,  is  what  the  people  believe  is  their  resolve.  It  is, 
however,  but  a  brag  game.  The  object  is  to  intimi 
date  the  people  into  acquiescence  of  their  rule.  Gen 
eral  Grant  ominously  says,  '  Let  us  have  peace '  with 
the  same  meaning,  and  they  are  winding  up  the  ses 
sion  with  a  distribution  of  arms  among  their  followers, 


468  LIFE    OF   FRANCIS    P.  BLAIR,  JR. 

to  give  emphasis  to  the  language  of  Grant  and  his 
myrmidons.  They  alone  disturb  the  public  peace. 
They  alone  threaten  to  resist  the  will  of  the  people  in 
the  lawful  exercise  of  their  authority  to  pass  judgment 
on  the  acts  of  their  unfaithful  servants,  and  restore  the 
Constitution.  The  Democracy  have  submitted  with 
out  resistance  to  the  most  glaring  violations  of  the 
Constitution.  Every  species  of  tyranny  and  outrage 
which  have  disgraced  the  meanest  and  bloodiest  tyrants 
in  the  world  has  been  borne  with  patience,  looking  to 
the  day  of  deliverance  by  the  ballot  box  in  November 
next.  Appalled  by  the  prospect  of  being  at  last 
brought  to  account,  these  corrupt  and  ruthless  oppres 
sors  are  attempting  to  drive  the  people  from  the  polls 
and  compel  a  still  further  submission  by  arming  their 
followers  and  threatening  war  if  they  shall  pronounce 
against  them.  But  there  is  no  danger.  '  The  sure 
way,1  says  General  Blair,  with  truth,  '  to  avoid  all 
strife,  is  to  put  the  issue  plainly  to  the  country.'  That 
has  been  done  now.  Let  the  people  decide  against 
these  usurpers  and  they  will  not  have  a  corporal's 
guard  to  sustain  them.  General  Grant  will  not  find  a 
soldier,  not  even  a  colored  soldier,  who  would  resist 
that  judgment.  Napoleon,  backed  by  his  millions  of 
armed  men,  cannot  withstand  the  voice  of  France. 
Can  the  carpet-baggers  survive  the  power  to  which 
alone  they  owe  their  official  life.  The  dictators  of  the 
caucus  at  Washington,  like  the  Bombas  of  Naples, 
will  become  objects  of  derision,  when,  with  loss  of 
power,  they  cease  to  be  feared.  Their  creatures  will 
become  yet  more  contemptible.  The  transfer  of  the 


RADICALS    ATTEMPT   TO    BRIBE    GEN.  BLAIR.  469 

executive  power  by  the  people  to  the  hands  of  Horatio 
Seymour,  will  end  the  struggle  at  once  in  all  its  forms, 
to  the  joy  of  a  once  more  united,  happy,  and  free 
people.  Nor  have  I  the  least  misgivings  but  that  this 
will  be  done.  In  the  address  I  made  here  a  year  ago 
I  ventured  the  prediction  that  the  people  will  repudi 
ate  the  faithless  men  whose  insane  lust  of  power  had 
driven  them  to  violate  every  guarantee  for  liberty. 
Our  Democratic  leaders  were  so  discouraged  that  they 
made  but  little  effort  at  the  canvass  of  last  year.  The 
result  was,  nevertheless,  that  the  Radicals  were  signally 
defeated.  This  forced  them  to  fly  to  Grant,  but  the 
elections  since  he  consented  to  cooperate  with  them 
show  that  people  are  not  to  be  diverted  from  their 
purpose  of  restoring  the  Constitution  by  the  influence 
of  his  name,  or  deterred  from  doing  their  duty  to 
themselves  and  their  posterity  by  brandishing  his 
sword  before  their  eyes.  They  want  the  assurance  of 
peace  which  is  afforded  by  the  Government  of  law 
and  not  the  peace  of  despotism,  or  of  the  reign  of 
terror,  of  which  Grant,  following  in  the  footsteps  of 
every  other  military  chieftain,  has  become  the  minis 
ter." 

The  Republicans  were  very  unwilling  to  lose  the 
cooperation  of  Gen.  Blair,  and  as  a  means  of  drawing 
him  back  to  their  organization,  secretly  tendered  him 
the  nomination  of  Vice  President  on  the  ticket  with 
Gen.  Grant,"'5  but  he  declined  it.  His  separation  from 
the  Republican  party  was  the  result  of  his  honest  con- 

*  Speech  of  Hon.  M.  BLiir,  at  Rockbridge,  Alum  Springs,  Va.,  July 
25th,  1868. 


470  LIFE    OF   FRANCIS    P.  BLAIR,  JR. 

victions  of  duty,  and  he  was  not  to  be  drawn  back  by 
bribery. 

"When  the  Democratic  Convention  assembled  in 
New  York  on  the  4th  of  July  1868,  it  was  seen 
that  General  Blair's  friends  were  strong  in  numbers. 
The  Missouri  delegation  was  a  unit  for  him,  and  his 
supporters  were  numerous  in  the  Regular  Convention 
and  in  that  of  the  Soldiers  and  Sailors. 

On  the  fifth  day  of  the  session,  Gen.  Blair  was 
formally  placed  in  nomination  by  Mr.  Broadhead  of 
Missouri,  who  said : 

"  We  have  now  reached  the  fifth  day  of  our  session 
without  any  successful  result.  I  now  ask  leave  to  pre 
sent  to  the  Convention  another  man  for  their  consider 
ation.  I  will  nominate  General  Francis  P.  Blair,  of 
Missouri.  It  is  not  necessary  in  thi-s  Convention  that 
I  should  attempt  to  repeat  his  honorable  services  as  a 
soldier  or  as  a  statesman,  for  they  are  known  to  the 
whole  country.  Without  desiring  to  disparage  the 
qualifications  of  any  other  of  the  distinguished  gentle 
men  whose  names  are  presented  for  the  consideration 
of  this  Convention,  I  will  only  say  that  General  Blair 
is  eminently  possessed  of  those  qualifications  most 
needed  at  this  time — firmness  of  purpose,  moral 
courage,  and  indomitable  will.  He  will  not  be  readily 
turned  from  a  purpose  once  deliberately  formed,  al 
though  another  coordinate  department  of  the  Govern 
ment  may  place  itself  in  the  way  of  its  performance ; 
and  as  President  of  the  United  States  he  would  pre 
serve,  protect,  and  defend  the  Constitution ;  and  he 
would  give  to  it  a  living  meaning  which,  in  the  absence 


THE    NEW    YORK    CONVENTION.  471 

of  any  judicial  interpretation  to  the  contrary,  gives  to 
the  President  the  right  and  imposes  upon  him  the  duty 
of  refusing  to  execute  unconstitutional  laws.  (Ap 
plause.)  If  we  would  meet  the  demands  of  this  crisis, 
if  we  would  not  shrink  from  the  issues  of  this  hour, 
we  must  by  some  tangible  form  of  action  maintain  the 
independence  of  the  Executive.  Congressional  des 
potism  is  the  great  evil  against  which  we  have  to  con 
tend.  It  is  the  fruitful  source  of  all  our  troubles.  It 
is  that  which  is  riving  asunder  the  framework  of  our 
government  and  substituting  the  views  of  faction  for 
the  requirements  of  the  Constitution.  We  want  a 
man  at  the  head  of  the  government  who  knows  the 
duties  of  the  executive  station,  and  knowing,  dare 
maintain  them.  Such  a  man  is  the  gentleman  whose 
name  I  now  present  to  the  consideration  of  this  Con 
vention." 

The  choice  of  the  Convention,  however,  fell  upon 
Mr.  Seymour — a  selection  which  was  promptly  and 
heartily  endorsed  by  General  Blair. 

The  Convention  met  in  the  afternoon,  after  a  brief 
recess,  for  the  purpose  of  nominating  a  candidate  for 
the  Vice-Presidency.  It  was  felt  by  all  that  the  selec 
tion  of  General  Blair  would  be  the  wisest  and  most 
fitting  choice  that  could  be  made,  and  it  seemed  to  be 
very  well  understood  that  he  would  receive  a  heavy 
vote  on  the  first  ballot. 

When  the  Convention  was  called  to  order,  Mr. 
Sparks,  of  Illinois,  nominated  General  John  A.  Mc- 
Clernand  of  that  State  ;  but  General  McClernand  with 
drew  his  name.  Hon.  Asa  C.  Dodge,  of  Iowa,  was 


472  LIFE    OF    FRANCIS    P.  BLAIR,  JR. 

then  nominated  by  the  delegation  from  that  State ;  and 
General  Thomas  Ewing,  Jr.,  of  Kansas,  by  the  Kansas 
delegation.  The  name  of  Kentucky  being  called,  Gen 
eral  Preston,  of  that  State,  an  ex-general  officer  of  the 
Confederate  army,  rose  and  said : 

"Mr.  President.  I  am  instructed  unanimously  by 
the  State  of  Kentucky,  by  its  delegates  here  assembled, 
to  place  in  nomination  a  gentleman  of  great  distinction 
in  his  State  and  in  the  country ;  one  in  the  prime  of 
manhood,  distinguished  by  his  devotion  to  the  Union — 
having  served  it  both  in  a  civil  an^d  military  capacity 
with  the  utmost  honor,  and  obtained  a  reputation  in 
the  army  second  to  no  man  of  his  grade.  Kentucky 
feels  that  this  nomination  is  due  to  the  great  West,  and 
no  Southern  State  has  presented  any  nominee  for  any 
place,  as  you  will  observe  here ;  but  I  feel  that  it  is  ap 
propriate — for  we  have  entertained  different  opinions 
from  him — to  state  that  I  am  instructed  now  to  nom 
inate  him  in  order  to  testify  that  we,  the  soldiers  of  the 
South,  stretch  forward  our  hands  to  the  soldiers  of  the 
North  (applause)  in  the  spirit  of  a  noble  amity  that 
your  resolutions  have  inculcated.  (Applause.)  It  is 
with  that  view,  Sir,  after  consultation  with  the  North 
ern  delegations,  and  one  of  the  most  powerful,  that  the 
duty  is  devolved  upon  me  of  making  this  nomination. 
I  now  have  the  privilege,  therefore,  of  nominating  as  a 
candidate  for  Vice-President  of  the  United  States, 
General  Francis  P.  Blair,  of  Missouri.  (Applause.)11 

As  General  Preston  resumed  his  seat,  General 
Steadman,  of  Louisiana,  rose  and  said  : 

"Mr.  President:  I  rise,  Sir,  as  one  of  the  humble 


SPEECH    OF    GEN.  STE ADMAN.  473 

representatives  of  the  United  States  Army  in  the  late 
war,  holding  a  seat  in  the  Convention,  to  second,  on 
behalf  of  Louisiana,  the  nomination  of  my  comrade 
in  arms,  Major-General  Frank  P.  Blair.  (Applause.) 
When  this  Convention  adjourned,  I  went  immediately 
to  the  headquarters  of  the  Soldiers1  and  Sailors'  Exec 
utive  Committee,  on  Union  Square.  I  met  there  some 
ten  cr  twelve  gentlemen,  who  were  distinguished  in 
the  army,  and  consulted  them  in  regard  to  their  choice 
as  a  candidate  as  a  Vice-President  of  the  United  States, 
and  by  a  unanimous  vote  of  all  who  were  present,  I 
was  requested  to  say  to  this  Convention,  without  dis 
paragement  to  the  name  of  any  other  soldier  that  has 
been  presented  here,  or  may  be  presented,  that  General 
Frank  P.  Blair  would  be  acceptable  to  the  soldiers  of 
the  United  States  Army.  (Applause.)  In  the  exhibi 
tion  of  magnanimity  that  has  been  made  in  this  Con 
vention  by  the  soldiers  of  the  Confederate  army,  in 
coming  up  and  giving  a  contradiction  to  the  charge  of 
the  Radical  party  that  they  did  riot  accept  sincerely 
the  situation  ;  in  casting  their  votes  as  they  did  in 
this  Convention  for  that  distinguished  soldier  of  the 
United  States  Army,  Major-Gen eral  Winfield  Scott 
Hancock,  they  have  given  renewed  assurance  of  their 
devotion  to  the  Union,  of  their  willingness  to  accept 
the  issues  of  the  war  by  presenting  to  this  Convention, 
through  General  Preston — whom  I  met  on  the  bloody 
field  of  Chickamauga — the  name  of  Major-General  Fran 
cis  P.  Blair.  (Loud  applause.)  I  feel  therefore  author 
ized  to  say  that  if  General  Blair  is  nominated  his  nom 
ination  will  meet  with  a  response  from  every  brave 


474  LIFE    OF   FRANCIS    P.  BLAIR,  JR. 

and  true  man  that  fought  on  either  side,  who  desires 
to  see  peace  and  prosperity  restored  to  our  common 
country."  (Applause.) 

General  Steadman  was  followed  by  General  Wade 
Hampton,  of  South  Carolina,  who  spoke  as  follows : 

"  Mr.  Chairman — The  only  reason  I  can  give  why 
my  State  has  done  me  the  honor  to  ask  me  to  speak 
for  her  on  this  occasion  is,  I  suppose,  that  I  met  the 
distinguished  gentleman  whose  name  has  been  present 
ed  by  Kentucky  on  more  than  one  field.  Our  State 
wishes  me  to  say  to  the  soldiers,  and  in  reply  to  the 
remarks  of  the  gentleman  from  Illinois,  the  distin 
guished  soldier  from  Illinois,  that  the  soldiers  of  the 
South  cordially,  heartily,  and  cheerfully  accept  the 
right  hand  of  friendship  which  is  extended  to  men. 
(Cries  of  'good,1  and  cheers.)  We  wish  to  show  that 
we  appreciate  the  kindness  and  cordiality  that  has  been 
extended  to  us  by  all  classes.  We  wish  particularly 
to  make  an  acknowledgment  to  the  Federal  soldiers 
who  have  met  us  so  cordially  and  so  friendly.  It  is 
due  to  them,  I  think,  that  they  should  have  the  second 
place  upon  the  ticket.  It  is  due  to  that  Convention 
which  so  cordially  approved  your  platform ;  it  is  due 
to  the  South,  and  I,  for  my  State,  most  heartily  and 
cordially  second  the  nomination  of  General  Blair." 

General  Hampton's  speech  was  greeted  with  loud 
applause,  and  when  order  was  restored,  the  first  ballot 
was  taken,  the  result  of  which  was  announced  by  the 
Secretary,  as  follows : 

u  The  vote  stands  upon  Vice-President,  as  follows : 
Whole  vote  of  the  Electoral  College,  317,  which  were 


STATEMENT   OF   THE    VOTE. 


475 


given    unanimously   for    Frank   P.    Blair,    of   Mis 


souri. 


The  following  is  a  table  of  the  first  ballot  for  Vice- 


President  : 

Blair. 

Alabama,      ....  8 

Arkansas,     ....  5 

California,    ....  5 

Connecticut,      ...  6 

Delaware,     ....  3 

Florida,  .....  3 

Georgia, 9 

Illinois, 16 

Indiana, 13 

Iowa, 8 

Kansas, 3 

.     .  11 

.     .  7 

.     .  7 

.     .  7 

.     .  12 

.     .  8 

.     .  4 

.     .  7 
11 


Blair. 

Nebraska,     .     .     .     .  3 

Nevada,  .     *    .  _.  .     .  3 

New  Hampshire,   .     .  5 

New  Jersey,      ...  7 

New  York,  ....  33 

North  Carolina,     .     .  9 

Ohio, 21 

Oregon, 3 

Pennsylvania,   .     .     .26 

Rhode  Island,  ...  4 

South  Carolina,     .     .  6 

Tennessee,    .....     .  12 

Texas,      .     . , ,.< : .- .     .  6 


Kentucky,    .     .     . 
Louisiana,    . 
Maine,     .... 
Maryland,     . 

Massachusetts,  . 
Michigan, 
Minnesota,   .     .     . 
Mississippi,  .     .     . 
Missouri,      .     .     . 

Three  hearty  cheers  greeted  this  announcement, 
and  another  scene  qf  enthusiasm  ensued.  The  Chair 
man  hammered  with  his  gavel,  and  the  Secretary  in 
formed  the  delegates  that  the  vote  had  not  yet  been 
announced. 

The  Chairman — "  The  unanimous  vote  having  been 


Vermont,  ,J  ,A 
Virginia,  .-.  . 
West  Virginia, 
Wisconsin,  .  •'. 

Total. 


,     5 
,  10 

,     5 
6 

317 


476  LIFE    OF   FRANCIS    P.  BLAIR,  JR. 

cast  for  Francis  P.  Blair,  of  Missouri,  for  Vice-Presi 
dent,  he  is  declared  the  candidate  of  the  Democratic 
party  for  the  Vice-Presidency."  (Great  cheering.) 

A  Committee  was  appointed  by  the  Convention  to 
Avait  upon  Mr.  Seymour  and  Gen.  Blair,  and  inform 
them  of  their  nominations.  As  we  have  said  in  the 
sketch  of  Governor  Seymour,  this  formal  announce 
ment  was  made  in  Tammany  Hall  on  the  evening  after 
the  Convention  adjourned  sine  die.  The  hall  was 
thronged  with  a  brilliant  audience,  among  whom  were 
many  of  the  most  distinguished  statesmen  of  the  coun 
try. 

The  nomination  for  the  Presidency  was  first  ten 
dered  to  Mr.  Seymour,  who  replied  in  a  few  eloquent 
remarks.  Then  turning  to  Gen.  Blair,  who  had  by 
this  time  advanced  to^  the  front  of  the  stage,  General 
Morgan  addressed  him  as  follows : 

"  General  Blair  :  The  Committee  appointed  by  the 
Convention  have  made  it  my  pleasing  duty,  sir,  to  an 
nounce  to  you  your  unanimous  nomination  as  the 
Democratic  candidate  for  the  Vice-President  of  the 
United  States — (applause) — and  in  tendering  to  you, 
sir,  this  nomination,  I  feel  sure  that  it  will  not  only  be 
hailed  with  acclamation  by  your  fellow-citizens  through 
out  the  United  States,  but  by  thousands  of  your  gal 
lant  comrades  on  many  a  well-fought  field — (applause) — 
and  who  will  once  again  rally  to  the  stars  and  stripes 
and  the  defence  of  free  institutions."  (Applause.) 

After  the  applause  which  greeted  his  presence  on 
the  stand  had  subsided,  General  Blair  said : 

"  Mr.  Chairman  *  I  accept  the  platform  of  resolu- 


ACCEPTANCE    OF   THE    NOMINATION.  477 

tions  passed  by  the  late  Democratic  Convention,  and  I 
accept  their  nomination — (great  cheering) — with  feel 
ings  of  profound  gratitude,  and,  sir,  I  thank  you  for 
the  very  kind  manner  in  which  you  have  already  con 
veyed  to  me  the  decision  of  the  Democratic  Conven 
tion.  I  accept  the  nomination  with  the  conviction 
that  your  nomination  for  the  Presidency  is  one  which 
will  carry  us  to  certain  victory — (applause) — and  be 
cause  I  believe  that  the  nomination  is  the  most  proper 
nomination  that  could  be  made  by  the  Democratic 
party.  (Applause.)  The  contest  which  we  wage  is 
for  the  restoration  of  constitutional  government  — 
(cheers) — and  it  is  proper  that  we  should  make  this 
contest  under  the  lead  of  one  who  has  given  his  life  to 
the  maintenance  of  constitutional  government.  (Ap 
plause.)  We  are  to  make  the  contest  for  the  restora 
tion  of  those  great  principles  of  government  which  be 
long  to  our  race.  (Great  applause.)  And,  my  fellow- 
citizens,  it  is  most  proper  that  we  should  select  for  our 
leader  a  man  not  from  military  life,  but  one  who  has 
devoted  himself  to  civil  pursuits ;  who  has  given  him 
self  to  the  study  and  the  understanding  of  the  Consti 
tution  and  its  maintenance  with  all  the  force  of  reason 
and  judgment.  (Applause.)  My  fellow-citizens,  I 
have  said  that  the  contest  before  us  was  one  for  the 
restoration  of  our  government,  it  is  also  one  for  the 
restoration  of  our  race.  (Applause,  long  continued.) 
It  is  to  prevent  the  people  of  our  race  from  being 
exiled  from  their  homes — (cheers) — exiled  from  the 
Government  which  they  formed  and  created  for  them 
selves  and  for  their  children,  and  to  prevent  them  from 


478  LIFE    OF    FRANCIS    P.  BLAIR,  JR. 

being  driven  out  of  the  country  or  trodden  under  foot 
by  an  inferior  and  semi-barbarous  race.  (Applause.) 
In  this  country  we  shall  have  the  sympathy  of  every 
man  who  is  worthy  to  belong  to  the  white  race.  (Ap 
plause.)  What  civilized  people  on  earth  would  refuse 
to  associate  with  themselves  in  all  the  rights  -and 
honors  and  dignity  of  their  country  such  men  as  Lee 
and  Johnson  ?  What  civilized  country  on  earth  would 
fail  to  do  honor  to  those  who,  fighting  for  an  erroneous 
cause,  yet  distinguished  themselves  by  gallantry  in 
that  service  ?  (Applause.)  In  that  contest  for  which, 
they  are  sought  to  be  disfranchised  and  to  be  exiled 
from  their  homes— in  that  contest  they  have  proved 
themselves  worthy  to  be  our  peers.  (Applause.)  My 
fellow-citizens,  it  is  not  my  purpose  to  make  any  long 
address — (cries  of  c  go  on ') — but  simply  to  express  my 
gratitude  for  the  great  and  distinguished  honor  which 
has  been  conferred  upon  me. 

"  A  voice — ;  You  are  worthy  of  it.' 

"  General  Blair. — And  from  my  heart  to  reiterate 
the  words  of  thanks  that  fell  from  my  lips  when  I 


arose." 


(Renewed  cheering,  during  which  General  Blair 
retired.) 

The  crowd  in  the  street  having  called  for  General 
Blair,  he  made  his  appearance  before  them  after  the 
conclusion  of  the  ceremonies  in  the  hall,  and  was  re 
ceived  with  deafening  shouts  of  applause.  He  then 
spoke  as  follows : 

;'  Gentlemen  :  I  return  you  my  heartfelt  thanks 
for  the  kindness  with  which  you  have  received  me  here 


SPEECH    OF    GEX.  BLAIR.  479 

this  evening.  I  value,  my  fellow-citizens,  this  un 
bounded  enthusiasm,  not  because  I  consider  it  any  per 
sonal  compliment  to  myself,  but  because  I  see  in  it 
what  no  man  can  mistake — that  the  people  of  this 
country  have  aroused  themselves,  and  intend  to  take 
back  their  Government  in  their  own  hands  (applause), 
that  they  intend  to  redeem  themselves  (applause)  from 
the  rule  (a  voice — '  misrule ')  of  this  dynasty  that  has 
disgraced  and  degraded  the  country.  (Great  cheering 
and  cries  of  i  good,  good.')  That  they  intend  to  assert 
the  rights  of  American  citizens  which  have  been  taken 
away  from  them  by  the  military  power  of  the  South 
(applause),  and  the  rights  of  American  citizens  in  for 
eign  lands  as  well.  (Enthusiastic  cheering.)  My  fel 
low-citizens,  the  Radicals  now  in  power  (groans  and 
hisses)  I  wish  I  could  groan  as  loud  as  all  of  you. 
(Laughter. )  They  have  sought,  fellow-citizens,  to  make 
a  new  Ireland  of  America.  (Groans.)  I  know,  fellow- 
citizens,  that  it  is  impossible  for  me  to  speak  so  as  to 
be  heard  in  this  immense  audience.  (Cries  of  'go  on.') 
I  know  that  standing  in  such  a  dense  mass  as  you  are 
now  standing  in,  is  not  conducive  to  comfort,  and  that 
it  will  be  better  for  me  to  desist.  (Cries  of  'go  on/)  I 
therefore  again,  fellow-citizens,  return  you  my  heartfelt 
thanks  for  your  kindness,  and  beseech  you  to  make 
your  assault  upon  the  Radicals  this  fall  with  the  same 
serried  ranks  as  I  now  see  here  assembled  before  me. 
I  take  my  seat  with  the  conviction  that  victory  is  sure." 
(Applause,  long  and  loud,  during  which  General  Blair 
retired.) 

A  few  days  later.  Gen.  Blair  forwarded  to  the  Com- 


480  LIFE    OF    FRANCIS    P.   BLAIR,  JR. 

mittee  the  following  formal  letter  of  acceptance  of  the 
nomination  of  the  Convention  : 

"  General  George  W.  Morgan,  Chairman  of  the  Com 
mittee   of  the  National  Democratic    Convention  : 

"  GENERAL  :  I  take  the  earliest  opportunity  of  reply 
ing  to  your  letter  notifying  me  of  my  nomination  for 
Vice-President  of  the  United  States  by  the  National 
Democratic  Convention  recently  held  in  the  City  of 
New  York. 

"  I  accept  without  hesitation  the  nomination  ten 
dered  in  a  manner  so  gratifying,  and  give  you  and  the 
Committee  my  thanks  for  the  very  kind  and  compli 
mentary  language  in  which  you  have  conveyed  to  me 
the  decision  of  the  Convention. 

"  I  have  carefully  read  the  resolutions  adopted  by 
the  Convention,  and  most  cordially  concur  in  every 
principle  and  sentiment  they  announce. 

"  My  opinion  upon  all  the  questions  which  dis 
criminate  the  great  contending  parties  have  been  freely 
expressed  on  all  suitable  occasions,  and  I  do  not  deem 
it  necessary  at  this  time  to  reiterate  them. 

u  The  issues  upon  which  the  contest  turns  are  clear 
and  cannot  be  obscured  or  distorted  by  the  sophistries 
of  our  adversaries.  They  all  resolve  themselves  into 
the  old  and  ever  recurring  struggle  of  a  few  men  to 
absorb  the  political  power  of  the  nation.  This  effort 
under  every  conceivable  name  and  disguise  has  always 
characterized  the  opponents  of  the  Democratic  party, 
but  at  no  time  has  the  attempt  assumed  a  phase  so  open 
and  daring  as  in  this  contest.  The  adversaries  of  free 


LETTER    OF    ACCEPTANCE.  481 

and  constitutional  Government,  in  defiance  of  the  ex 
press  language  of  the  Constitution,  have  erected  a 
military  despotism  in  ten  of  the  States  of  the  Union, 
have  taken  from  the  President  the  power  vested  in  him 
by  the  supreme  law,  and  have  deprived  the  Supreme 
Court  of  its  jurisdiction.  The  right  of  trial  by  jury, 
and  the  great  writ  of  right,  the  habeas  corpus — shields 
of  safety  for  every  citizen,  which  have  descended  to  us 
from  the  earliest  traditions  of  our  ancestors,  and  which 
our  Revolutionary  fathers  sought  to  secure  to  their 
posterity  forever  in  the  fundamental  charter  of  our  lib 
erties — have  been  ruthlessly  trampled  under  foot  by 
the  fragment  of  a  Congress ;  whole  States  and  com 
munities  of  people  of  our  race  have  been  attainted, 
convicted,  condemned,  and  deprived  of  their  rights  as 
citizens,  without  presentment  or  trial  or  witnesses,  but 
by  Congressional  enactment  of  ex  post  facto  laws,  and 
in  defiance  of  the  constitutional  prohibition,  denying 
even  to  a  full  and  loyal  Congress  the  authority  to  pass 
any  bill  of  attainder  or  ex  post  facto  law.  The  same 
usurping  authority  has  substituted  as  electors  in  place 
of  the  men  of  our  own  race,  thus  illegally  attainted  and 
disfranchised,  a  host  of  ignorant  negroes  who  are  sup 
ported  in  idleness  with  the  public  money,  and  are  com 
bined  together  to  strip  the  white  race  of  their  birth 
right  through  the  management  of  Freedmen's  bureaux 
and  emissaries  of  conspirators  in  other  States.  And 
to  complete  the  oppression,  the  military  power  of  the 
nation  has  been  placed  at  their  disposal  in  order  to 
make  this  barbarism  supreme.  The  military  leader, 
under  whose  prestige  this  usurping  Congress  has  taken 
31 


482 

refuge — since  the  condemnation  of  their  schemes  by 
the  free  people  of  the  North,  in  elections  of  the  last 
year — and  whom  they  have  selected  as  their  candidate, 
to  shield  themselves  from  the  result  of  their  own  wick 
edness  and  crime,  has  announced  his  acceptance  of  the 
nomination,  and  his  willingness  to  maintain  their  usur 
pations  over  eight  millions  of  white  people  at  the  South, 
fixed  to  the  earth  with  his  bayonets.  He  exclaim^ 
4  Let  us  have  peace ! '  '  Peace  reigns  in  Warsaw,1  was 
the  announcement  which  heralded  the  doom  of  the 
liberties  of  a  nation.  'The  empire  is  peace,'  exclaim 
ed  Bonaparte  when  freedom,  arid  its  defenders  expired 
under  the  sharp  edge  of  his  sword.  The  peace  to  which 
Grant  invites  us  is  the  peace  of  despotism  and  death. 
Those  who  seek  to  restore  the  Constitution  by  execu 
ting  the  will  of  the  people  condemning  the  reconstruc 
tion  acts,  already  pronounced  in  the  elections  of  last 
year  (and  which  will,  I  am  convinced,  be  still  more 
emphatically  expressed  by  the  election  of  the  Demo 
cratic  candidate  as  President  of  the  United  States),  are 
denounced  as  revolutionists  by  the  partisans  of  this  vin 
dictive  Congress.  Negro  suffrage  (which  the  popular 
vote  of  New  York,  New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania,  Ohio, 
Michigan,  Connecticut,  and  other  States  has  condemn 
ed  as  expressly  against  the  letter  of  the  Constitution) 
must  stand,  because  their  Senators  and  Representa 
tives  have  willed  it.  If  the  people  shall  again  condemn 
these  atrocious  measures  by  the  election  of  the  Demo 
cratic  candidate  for  President,  they  must  not  be  dis 
turbed  !  Although  decided  to  be  unconstitutional  by 
the  Supreme  Court,  and  although  the  President  is 


LETTER    OF    ACCEPTANCE.  483 

sworn  to  maintain  and  support  the  Constitution,  the  will 
of  a  fraction  of  a  Congress,  reinforced  with  its  par 
tisan  emissaries  sent  to  the  South,  and  supported 
there  by  the  soldiery,  must  stand  against  the  will 
of  the  people  and  the  decisions  of  the  Supreme  Court 
and  the  solemn  oath  of  the  President  to  maintain 
and  support  the  Constitution  !  It  is  revolutionary  to 
excute  the  will  of  the  people  !  It  is  revolutionary  to 
execute  the  judgment  of  the  Supreme  Court!  It  is 
revolutionary  in  the  President  to  keep  inviolate  his 
oath  to  sustain  the  Constitution !  This  false  construc 
tion  of  the  vital  principle  of  our  Government  is  the 
last  resort  of  those  who  would  have  their  arbitrary 
reconstruction  sway  and  supersede  our  time-honored 
institutions.  The  nation  will  say  that  the  Constitution 
must  be  restored  and  the  will  of  the  people  again  pre 
vail.  The  appeal  to  the  peaceful  ballot  to  attain  this 
end  is  not  war — is  not  revolution.  They  make  war 
and  revolution  who  attempt  to  arrest  this  quiet  mode 
of  putting  aside  military  despotism  and  the  usurpa 
tions  of  a  fragment  of  a  Congress  asserting  absolute 
power  over  that  benign  system  of  regulated  liberty 
left  us  by  our  fathers.  This  must  be  allowed  to  take 
its  course.  This  is  the  only  road  to  peace.  It  will 
come  with  the  election  of  the  Democratic  candidate,  and 
not  ivith  the  election  of  that  mailed  warrior  whose  bay 
onets  are  now  at  the  throats  of  eight  millions  of  peo 
ple  in  the  South,  to  compel  them  to  support  him  as  a 
candidate  for  the  Presidency,  and  to  submit  to  the  domi 
nation  of  an  alien  race  of  semi-barbarous  men.  No 
perversion  of  truth  or  audacity  of  misrepresentation 


484  LIFE    OF    FRANCIS    P.  BLAIR,  JR. 

can  exceed  that  which  hails  this  candidate  in  arms  as 
an  angel  of  peace. 

"  I  am,  very  respectfully, 

"Your  most  obedient  servant, 

"  FRANK  P.  BLAIR." 

After  the  close  of  the  Convention,  Gen.  Blair  made 
a  visit  to  the  far  West,  on  business  connected  with  the 
Pacific  Railroad,  and  while  at  Omaha,  Nebraska,  on 
the  16th  of  July,  was  serenaded  by  a  party  of  enthu 
siastic  admirers,  to  whom  he  spoke  as  follows  : 

"  I  am  here  to  acknowledge  the  compliment  you 
have  paid  me.  I  assure  you  that  I  value  the  compli 
ment.  I  am  well  aware  that  it  is  not  paid  to  me  as 
an  individual,  but  rather  as  one  of  the  representatives 
of  that  cause  to  which  you  have  shown  yourselves  so 
devoted.  (Applause.)  It  is  a  cause,  my  fellow  citi 
zens,  worthy  of  your  greatest  devotion  and  of  your 
highest  enthusiasm.  It  is  the  cause  of  free  govern 
ment  and  constitutional  government  in  this  country, 
and  I  am  satisfied,  my  friends  and  fellow  citizens,  from 
the  enthusiasm  and  feeling  manifested  here  to-night 
and  elsewhere  where  I  have  been,  that  this  cause  is 
destined  to  a  great  and  glorious  victory  in  the  next 
election  in  November.  (Great  applause.)  I  feel,  my 
fellow  citizens,  that  we  are  destined  to  achieve  a  great 
victory  in  behalf  of  our  free  government  and  free  con 
stitution.  I  feel  to-day,  not  alone  from  this  manifes 
tation,  but  from  all  we  have  seen  during  the  past  year 
in  the  elections  where  the  policy  of  the  radical  party 
has  been  condemned  by  overwhelming  majorities  of 


SPEECH    AT    OMAHA.  485 

people  of  the  United  States — (cheers) — and  notwith 
standing  this  condemnation  by  the  people,  these  reck 
less  people,  who  achieved  power  upon  a  totally  differ 
ent  issue  from  that  which  is  now  before  the  people, 
have  in  defiance  of  the  popular  will,  in  defiance  of  the 
votes  of  the  people,  of  whom  they  were  simply  the 
representatives,  urged  forward  these  measures  to  a  com 
pletion  in  the  hope  that  they  could  bind  the  hands  of 
the  people  of  this  country  and  wrest  from  them  the 
power  forever.  (Applause.)  Yes,  my  fellow  citizens, 
they  have  by  these  measures  put  under  foot  all  the 
people  of  our  race  in  ten  of  the  Southern  States  ;  they 
have  bound  a  million  of  people  to  the  earth  with  their 
bayonets,  and  they  have  put  on  the  top  of  them  this 
hideous  black  barbarism — (applause) — and,  my  fellow 
citizens,  feeling  that  they  have  lost  the  confidence  of 
the  white  race,  both  North  and  South,  they  propose  to 
overcome  the  charges  cast  against  them  at  the  North 
in  the  free  States  during  the  last  year  by  the  minority 
of  the  South,  whom  they  have  made  supreme  over  the 
white  race  there,  and  the  question  comes  up  for  your 
decision — for  the  decision  of  the  whole  of  the  people 
of  this  country — will  you  permit  a  minority  in  both 
sections  composed  of  the  white  race.  (Cheers.)  That 
race,  my  fellow  citizens,  that  glorious  race  of  people 
whose  history  is  the  record  of  intellectual  progress 
among  mankind,  the  only  race  that  have  ever  shown 
themselves  capable  of  establishing  and  maintaining  free 
government.  (A  voice.  The  Blair  family,  I  suppose.) 
The  Blair  family  will  be  found  on  the  side  of  the  white 
race.  (Cheers.)  The  Blair  family  can  never  be  de- 


486  LIFE   OF   FRANCIS    P.  BLAIR,  JR. 

terred  from  taking  that  stand  by  any  man  who  wishes 
to  assail  the  fair  white  race  of  this  country  by  a  mix 
ture  with  the  blacks.  (Applause.)  My  fellow  citi 
zens,  it  is  not  my  intention  to  detain  you  by  any  length 
ened  remarks.  (Cries  of  c  Go  on.')  I  knew  very  well 
that  what  I  had  to  say  would  not  please  a  certain  set 
of  people,  and  I  will  say  further  that  I  did  not  intend 
to  please  them.  (Loud  cheers.)  If  any  one  is  dis 
pleased  that  we,  the  Democrats,  intend  to  restore  the 
government  and  the  constitution,  they  may  make  their 
decrees  now,  for  I  tell  you  that  alter  November  next  you 
will  not  be  able  to  heur  one  of  them  speak.  (Applause.) 
But  I  am  for  giving  them  the  largest  liberty  of  speech. 
I  do  not  intend  nor  desire  that  they  should  be  gagged  as 
they  are  now  endeavoring  to  gag  eight  millions  of  our 
people  in  the  South.  I  do  not  think  it  will  be  the 
policy  of  the  Democratic  party  when  it  comes  into 
power  and  re-establishes  the  government  to  proscribe 
free  speech  anywhere  in  the  country.  It  has  always 
been  their  policy  to  give  the  largest  liberty  to  all  men 
to  use  the  most  perfect  freedom  of  speech,  for  without 
it  we  cannot  maintain  our  free  institutions.  But  these 
things  are  exceedingly  distasteful  to  our  Radical  breth 
ren.  Throughout  the  South,  they  put  the  gag  in  the 
mouth  of  those  people  whom  they  have  trod  under 
the  military  heel.  Men  are  arrested,  thrown  into 
prison  and  tried  by  military  commissions,  in  defiance 
of  those  constitutional  guarantees  of  the  rights  of  free 
speech,  right  of  trial  by  jury  and  the  right  to  be  tried 
before  his  peer  and  the  judicial  tribunal  for  any  alleged 
offence.  Where  are  those  rights  now?  They  have 


SPEECH    AT    LEAVENWORTH.  487 

been  stilled,  trodden  down,  and  yet  we  find  men  in 
this  country  who  can  stand  up  and  defend  those  acts 
of  atrocity.  (Cheers.)  My  fellow  citizens,  I  thank 
you  for  your  attentive  audience.  This  is  a  gratifying 
spectacle  to  any  man  who  loves  liberty  and  the  consti 
tution.  This  enthusiasm  is  a  sure  harbinger  of  our 
success  next  November.  (Cheers.)  And  that  success, 
under  the  lead  of  the  distinguished  gentleman  wrho 
has  been  chosen  by  a  Democratic  convention  as  your 
candidate  for  the  Presidency,  is  certain  to  restore  to 
you  the  constitution  handed  down  to  you  by  your 
fathers.  Gentlemen,  I  again  thank  you.  (Cries  of 
1  Go  on.')  I  find  it  impossible,  my  fellow  citizens,  to 
make  my  voice  reach  the  confines  of  this  immense 
crowd,  and,  thanking  you  from  my  heart  for  the  kind 
ness  which  you  have  shown  me  to-night — thanking  you 
still  more  for  the  enthusiasm  you  have  shown  for  that 
cause  in  which  I  am  now  engaged  along  with  you,  I 
now  retire.11  (Loud  cheers.) 

At  Leaven  worth,  Kansas,  on  the  31st  of  July, 
1868,  General  Blair  addressed  the  State  Democratic 
Convention  and  the  citizens  generally  assembled  in 
mass-meeting,  as  follows  : 

"  FELLOW-CITIZENS  OF  KANSAS  :  I  congratulate  my 
self  on  my  good  fortune  in  having  to  address  so  large 
and  enthusiastic  an  audience  as  I  now  behold.  I  do 
not  assume  to  myself  that  tins  is  a  personal  compli 
ment  to  me.  I  am  too  well  aware  that,  on  the  contra 
ry,  your  presence  here  to  night  is  rather  due  to  your 
devotion  to  the  great  cause  in  which  we  all  are  en 
gaged,  and  in  that  sense  I  accept  it  as  a  greater  compli- 


488  LIFE    OF   FRANCIS    P.  BLAIR,  JR. 

ment  than  if  it  was  a  mere  personal  ovation.  The 
cause  to  which  we  are  devoted,  and  of  which  I  am  one 
of  your  representatives,  is  one  worthy  of  your  most 
profound  devotion.  It  is  a  cause  in  which  the  en 
thusiasm  which  I  see  here  to-night,  so  far  as  I  have 
observed,  has  prevailed  throughout  the  country.  It  is 
the  cause  of  popular  rights,  the  cause  of  civil  govern 
ment,  the  cause  of  constitutional  liberty.  It  is  the 
cause,  the  worthiest  of  all  for  which  man  has  arrayed 
himself  in  times  past,  and  it  will  become  you — it  will 
become  all  of  us- — to  evince  our  devotion  to  that  cause 
which  has  showered  upon  the  nation  so  many  blessings 
since  its  foundation.  This  cause  is  in  peril ;  this  cause 
has  received  from  the  party  in  power  the  most  violent 
shock  ;  it  has  been  undermined,  and  is  almost  on  the 
point  of  being  overthrown.  But  the  people  of  the 
country  are  rallying  to  defend  this  cause,  the  holiest 
and  best  in  the  world,  and  in  their  might  I  confide,  in 
their  strength  I  am  willing  to  abide.  They  alone  car 
rescue  this  nation  from  the  impending  peril,  and  it  is 
for  you,  and  for  all  citizens  of  this  country  who  love 
democratic  institutions,  to  come  up  as  one  man  and 
sustain  the  best  and  holiest  clause  in  the  world.  (Ap 
plause.)  I  do  not  speak  merely  empty  rhetoric  on  this 
subject.  I  could  advert,  and  I  will  advert,  to  the  par 
ticular  transactions  by  which  this  cause  has  been 
brought  into  peril.  I  call  your  attention  to  the  aggres 
sions  which  have  been  made  by  the  Radical  party,  call 
ing  themselves  Republicans,  upon  the  fundamental 
principles  of  our  Government,  those  great,  underlying 
principles  on  which  all  civil  liberty  depends.  They 


SPEECH  AT  LEAVEN  WORTH.  489 

have  sought,  by  various  measures  which  the  Constitu 
tion  has  prohibited,  to  entrench  themselves  in  power 
in  this  Government.  They,  losing  the  confidence  of 
their  own  race — losing  the  confidence  of  the  white 
people,  have  sought  to  give  the  power  in  a  portion  of 
the  States  of  this  Union  to  another  element — the  black 
race — hoping,  after  losing  the  confidence  of  the  white 
race,  to  maintain  and  perpetuate  their  supremacy  by 
giving  political  power  in  ten  States  of  this  Union  to 
the  black  race.  (Applause,  and  cries  of  'Shame! 
shame  ! ')  Now,  my  fellow-citizens,  I  take  the  broad 
ground  that  the  white  race  is  the  only  race  in  the 
world  that  has  shown  itself  capable  of  maintaining 
free  institutions  and  a  free  government — (Applause); 
that  nowhere,  in  any  country  or  at  any  time,  have  the 
black  people  shown  themselves  capable  of  establishing 
or  maintaining  a  constitutional  government,  or  any 
other  kind  of  government.  (Prolonged  cheers.)  Yet 
the  people  of  the  Southern  States  have  been  disfran 
chised,  and  the  ignorant  blacks — the  same  people  that  the 
Republican  party  has  declared  were  imbruted  by  sla- 
-very — whom  we  all  know  to  be  ignorant — whom  we  all 
know  to  be  semi-barbarous — whom  we  all  know  have 
never  been  capable  of  creating,  establishing,  or  main 
taining  a  free  government,  are  made  to  predominate 
in  all  those  States.  Not  only  are  they  made  to  predomin 
ate  in  the  Southern  States,  but  the  three  or  four  millions 
of  semi-barbarous  blacks  have  the  entire  control  'of 
those  States,  and  send  twenty  Senators  to  the  United 
States  Senate,  while  the  four  millions  of  white  people 
of  New  York  send  but  two  Senators.  It  would  take 


490  LIFE    OF   FRANCIS    P.  BLAIR,  JR. 

New  York,  Pennsylvania,  Ohio,  Indiana,  Illinois,  Mis 
souri,  and  enough  of  the  other  great  States  of  the 
Union  put  together,  containing  twenty  millions  of 
white  people,  to  counterbalance  the  three  or  four  mil 
lion  blacks  in  the  South  ;  so  that  the  negroes  are  not 
only  put  above  the  white  people  of  the  South,  but 
above  the  white  people  of  the  North  also,  and  three  or 
four  millions  of  blacks  are  made  equal  in  the  Senate  of 
the  United  States  to  more  than  twenty  millions  of  the 
free  white  people  of  the  North.  (Cheers,  and  cries  of 
'  shame.*)  Fellow-citizens,  we  all  very  well  know  that 
this  is  a  political  trick  to  keep  what  is  known  as 
the  Radical  party  in  power.  They  don't  believe  in 
it  themselves.  They  voted  it  down  in  the  State  of 
Kansas  by  10,000  majority,  but  notwithstanding  the 
people  have  voted  down  negro  suffrage  in  this  State, 
your  two  Senators  and  Representatives  still  insist  upon 
sustaining  the  State  governments  erected  on  the  negro 
vote  of  the  South.  You  don't  understand  the  danger 
in  which  our  institutions  are  from  the  ignorant  blacks 
and  vagabond  carpet-baggers  of  the  South.  (Prolonged 
applause,  and  cries  of  '  Yes,  we  do ;  and  we'll  save  the 
country  yet.')  The  people  have  never  assented  to  these 
so-called  reconstruction  acts.  In  the  election  of  1866, 
so  far  from  presenting  that  issue,  they  dodged  it — they 
presented  an  entirely  different  issue.  The  issue  they 
submitted  then  was  what  is  known  as  the  fourteenth 
amendment  to  the  Federal  Constitution,  which  con 
ceded  to  all  the  States  the  right  to  regulate  suf 
frage  for  themselves.  That  was  the  issue  upon 
which  the  last  Congressional  election  was  held. 


SPEECH    AT    LEAVENWORTH.  ,     491 

After  they  had  attained  power  by  admitting  the  doc 
trines  on  which  the  Democratic  party  always  stood, 
they  went  to  work  to  disfranchise  the  white  people  of 
the  South  and  enfranchise  the  blacks,  denying  to  the 
States  the  rights  which  were  contained  in  the  Four 
teenth  amendment.  As  soon  as  they  showed  their 
hands,  the  elections  of  1867  declared  against  them. 
In  New  York,  Ohio,  Pennsylvania.  Michigan,  Califor 
nia,  Oregon,  Connecticut,  and  in  enough  States  to  carry 
the  election,  the  people  decided  against  them.  But  the 
Senators  and  Representatives  from  those  States  re 
fused  to  obey  the  will  of  the  people.  They  put  it  at 
defiance,  and  went  on  with  their  reconstruction ;  and 
now  declare  they  have  fixed  it,  and  that  it  is  not 
in  the  power  of  the  people  to  undo  what  they  have 
done.  And  because  in  a  letter  I  wrote  pending  the 
nominations  in  New  York,  I  took  the  ground  that  the 
will  of  the  people  must  be  executed,  they  proclaimed 
me  a  '  revolutionist '  anxious  to  reinstate  the  rebellion. 
The  idea  that  any  one  should  undertake  to  undo  what 
has  been  done  by  this  great  Congress — this  Rump,  this 
fragmentary  Congress — (cheers) — who  got  into  power 
by  deceiving  the  people  on  false  issues,  is  monstrous  in 
their  virtuous  eyes.  After  their  action  has  been  con 
demned  by  10,000  in  Kansas,  by  50,000  in  New  York, 
by  as  many  in  Ohio,  by  30,000  in  Michigan,  and  by 
overwhelming  majorities  of  the  people  wherever  there 
has  been  an  expression  of  their  will,  it  is  revolution  to 
favor  the  execution  of  the  will  of  the  people — Frank 
Blair  is  a  ;  revolutionist '  and  wants  to  inaugurate  an 
other  rebellion  !  (Cheers  and  laughter.)  I  say  the 


492   ,  LIFE    OF   FRANCIS    P.  BLAIR,  JR. 

Southern  States  were  never  out  of  the  Union — that  is 
the  doctrine  we  hold  to  and  fought  for  four  years ;  but 
now  the  Radical  parry  has  taken  the  exact  position 
that  Jeff.  Davis  and  other  leaders  of  secession  took  at 
the  commencement  of  the  war.  (Applause  and  cries 
of  c  that's  so.' )  I  tell  you  I  have  no  animosity  toward 
the  negroes,  and  those  who  are  pretending  to  be  their 
friends  are  their  worst  enemies.  Every  one  knows, 
from  my  history,  that  when  the  negroes  were  in  slavery 
I  was  an  advocate  for  their  emancipation.  I  advocated 
it  at  the  worst  times,  and  in  the  worst  places.  I  ad 
vocated  it  when  the  present  pale-faced  Radicals  of  Mis 
souri  did  not  dare  to  lift  up  their  heads.  (Prolonged 
cheers.)  And  now  I  say  that  unless  the  negroes  sub 
mit  to  the  intelligent  guidance  of  the  powerful  white 
race,  their  fate  will  be  that  of  the  Indians — they  will 
be  exterminated.  The  negroes  can  only  be  happy  and 
prosperous  as  long  as  they  are  guided  by  the  intelli 
gence  of  the  white  race.  (Cheers.)  Whenever  it  is 
sought  to  disfranchise  the  intelligence  of  the  country 
and  make  it  subordinate  to  the  ignorance  of  the  coun 
try — whenever  it  is  sought  to  subordinate  the  white 
race  of  the  country  to  the  black  barbarism  of  the 
negro — the  prosperity  of  the  country  is  at  an  end. 
(Applause  and  cries  of  c  that's  so.') 

"But  I  come  back  to  the  proposition  with  which 
I  started,  that  the  Radical  party  has  done  these  things 
in  defiance  of  the  will  of  the  people.  Have  the  people 
ever  indorsed  negro  suffrage  ?  (Never.)  Did  you  not 
condemn  it  in  this  State?  Was  it  not  condemned  in 
all  the  States  of  the  Union  at  the  last  election  ?  and 


SPEECH   AT   LEAVEN  WORTH.  493 

shall  the  Radical  party  persist  in  pressing  it  upon  the 
people,  that  it  shall  be  the  rule?  And  when,  as  I 
have  already  stated,  I  said  in  New  York,  that  if  the 
Democratic  party  should  carry  these  elections  ;  if  the 
people  should  elect  a  Democratic  President,  this  pre 
tended  reconstruction  should  be  undone  ;  and  if  these 
miserable  carpet-baggers  in  the  Senate  were  in  the  way 
of  its  being  done,  the  people  will  find  a  way  to  execute 
their  will ;  those  miserable  creatures  who  have  under 
taken  to  forestall  the  popular  will,  say  that  any  one 
who  undertakes  to  execute  the  will  of  the  people  is  a 
revolutionist.  (Applause.)  Look  at  the  attitude  of 
these  men.  Who  are  the  revolutionists?  Who  has 
put  at  defiance  the  popular  will?  Who  has  taken 
away  the  powers  of  the  Executive  as  granted  to  him 
by  the  Constitution?  Who  has  curtailed  the  jurisdic 
tion  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  ?  Who 
has  done  all  this  ?  Why  the  Radical  party.  (Cheers 
and  cries  of  i  That's  so.')  Who  has  put  ten  States  of 
this  Union  under  martial  law  in  time  of  profound  peace? 
The  Radical  party  in  Congress.  Who  has  taken  away 
from  the  President  the  constitutional  powers  granted 
him  as  Commander-in-Chief  of  the  army  and  conferred 
it  on  their  candidate  for  the  Presidency  ?  The  Radi 
cal  party.  Who  hold  eight  millions  of  white  people 
of  the  South  pinned  to  the  earth  with  bayonets  ?  The 
Radical  party.  General  Grant  was  selected  as  the 
candidate  of  the  party  because  they  knew  they  were 
beaten  on  their  principles,  and  because  he  alone,  with 
his  great  personal  popularity,  was  supposed  to  be  able 
to  arrest  the  tide  that  was  about  to  overwhelm  them ; 


494  LIFE    OF    FRANCIS    P.   BLAIR,  JR. 

because  with,  the  almost  omnipotent  power  now  given 
him  in  ten  States  of  this  Union,  they  thought  he  could 
control  the  votes  to  their  own  advantage.  Is  this  man, 
who  has  bayonets  at  the  throats  of  eight  or  ten  mil 
lions  of  the  people,  the  proper  representative  of  the 
people  ?  (Not  much.)  And  are  those  who  seek  to 
turn  aside  those  bayonets  and  give  the  law  and  the 
Constitution  control,  revolutionists?  I  tell  you  now 
all  their  attempts  to  subjugate  this  people  will  be  over 
thrown.  The  success  of  the  Democratic  party  at  the 
coming  election  is  foregone.  It  is  ordained  of  Heaven. 
It  is  a  thing  already  consummated  almost,  because  the 
people  of  this  country  are  not  the  men  to  surrender 
their  liberties.  (Never,  never.)  Nor  can  the  eminent 
services  or  prestige  of  General  Grant  mislead  them. 
(Applause.)  I  desire  to  speak  of  General  Grant  with 
the  greatest  respect  for  his  services  to  his  country.  I 
shall  never  allow  myself  to  speak  of  him  otherwise 
than  with  the  greatest  respect.  I  don't  think  we  gain 
any  advantage  by  misrepresenting  him  or  his  services. 

u  A  Voice — "We  have  not  heard  from  him  yet. 

"  General  Blair — No,  and  you  are  not  likely  to 
hear  from  him — (applause) — but  as  he  is  a  candidate 
for -the  highest  position  in  the  world,  he  is  subjected  to 
a  fair  criticism  on  his  conduct  and  language.  I  call 
your  attention  to  the  report  made  by  General  Grant 
when  sent  by  President  Johnson  to  the  South  to  inves 
tigate  the  condition  of  affairs  there.  He  then  stated 
that  the  people  of  the  South  had  submitted  to  the 
terms  imposed  upon  them  by  the  Government,  and 
that  they  were  fitted  to  return  to  the  rights  of  citizens 


SPEECH   AT    LEAVEN  WORTH.  495 

in  the  Union.  Since  that  time  he  has  seen  proper  to 
change  his  attitude  on  this  question.  I  clo  not  impugn 
his  motives,  but  we  are  all  at  liberty  to  look  at  the 
facts.  When  the  Radicals  were  keeping  the  States  out 
he  recommended  their  admission.  I  know  very  well 
from  General  Grant's  former  position  that  he  has  no 
amity  for  the  negro.  Neither  has  General  Sherman 
nor  General  Sheridan.  They  have  no  hatred  towards 
the  people  of  the  South.  Look  at  the  terms  General 
Sherman  gave  Johnston  at  the  surrender  in  North 
Carolina.  It  all  goes  to  show  that  these  military  lead 
ers,  who  are  all  now  arrayed  against  the  Democracy, 
in  their  hearts  believe  in  the  doctrines  of  the  Democrat 
ic  party.  They  did  then  and  they  do  now.  But  I 
will  tell  you  the  secret — what  has  brought  them  to  the 
Radical  party.  It  is  their  military  instinct,  which  tells 
them  that  the  Radical  party  is  in  favor  of  a  despotism 
in  this  country,  and  without  having  any  affinity  for  the 
negro,  or  hatred  for  the  white  people  of  the  South,  they 
felt  that  the  Radicals  were  in  favor  of  erecting  a 
despotism,  and  they  knew  full  well  that  that  would  give 
additional  consequence  to  military  men.  That  is  the 
secret  of  these  men  arraying  themselves  against  Democ 
racy,  against  constitutional  liberty,  and  against  the 
civil  institutions  of  our  country.  (Continued  applause.) 
We  have  honored  these  men  as  no  nation  ever  hon 
ored  its  heroes  before.  We  have  given  them  the 
loftiest  positions,  but  they  are  riot  content;  they 
would  make  themselves  dictators  over  all  the  country. 
And  now  is  the  time  for  you  to  show  yourselves  as 
ready  and  capable  of  prostrating  these  would-be  dicta- 


496  LIFE    OF    FRANCIS    P.  BLAIR,  JR. 

tors  as  you  were  in  prostrating  the  rebellion.  (We 
are  ready.)  I  know  you  are  ready.  I  know  that 
while  you  cherish  the  services  they  performed  for  the 
Government,  you  are  not  inclined  to  surrender  your 
own  birthrights — the  birthright  of  a  citizen  and  free 
man.  (Applause.) 

"  A  Voice — What  about- the  Copperheads  ? 

"  General  Blair — I  think  these  Radicals  have  made 
the  name  i  Copperhead '  respectable  by  their  great 
treason  against  the  Government.  I  think  that  what 
ever  of  prejudice  may  have  existed  against  those  who 
were  called  c  Copperheads '  during  the  war,  because  of 
their  sympathy  for  a  people  who,  however  wrong,  have 
made  themselves  memorable  for  all  time,  will  have 
been  forgotten  and  their  sins  will  have  been  forgiven, 
when  the  Radicals,  who  have  undertaken  to  destroy 
the  liberties  of  the  whole  people,  to  subvert  our  insti 
tutions,  to  put  down  the  great  principles  upon  which 
civil  liberty  alone  can  be  sustained,  who  sought  to  per 
petuate  their  power  by  appealing  to  the  ignorance  of  a 
degraded  race  of  beings,  will  be  held  up  as  examples 
for  continual  execration.  (Applause.)  The  Radical 
party  will  be  overthrown.  The  people  are  in  no  tem 
per  to  submit  to  the  domination  of  a  party  who  se^ek 
to  maintain  themselves  by  calling  to  their  aid  this  ig 
norant  and  barbarous  race  of  men.  (Applause.)  I 
may  be  accused  of  appealing  to  your  prejudices.  I  do 
not  appeal  to  your  prejudices.  I  appeal  to  history.  I 
appeal  to  that  which  ought  to  guide  every  statesman. 
It  is  impossible  to  make  a  nation  prosperous  by  giv 
ing  the  reins  of  power  into  the  hands  of  a  race  of 


SPEECH   AT    LEAVENWORTH.  497 

people  who  are  incapable  of  guiding  any  nation.  You 
have  repudiated  that  doctrine — (Yes,  and  will  do  it 
again) — and  you  ought  to  do  it  forever.  (Applause.) 
A  man  is  unworthy  himself,  if  he  is  classed  as  a  white 
man,  who  will  put  the  black  man  over  his  own  race  ; 
and  no  one  but  a  demagogue  would  do  it.  If  the  Rad 
icals  felt  secure  in  their  position  they  would  be  content 
to  appeal  to  their  own  race  of  people  for  support,  to 
the  people  who  had  created  this  Government,  who 
maintained  it  and  carried  it  forward  to  unexampled 
prosperity.  They  would  be  content  to  appeal  to  the 
intelligence  of  the  white  race.  But  no,  they  know  they 
have  forfeited  the  confidence  of  the  white  race.  They 
are  conspiring  against  the  most  cherished  institutions 
of  our  country.  They  are  giving  the  franchise  to  that 
ignorant  race  whom  they  know  to  be  incapable,  and  at 
the  same  time,  are  disfranchising  the  intelligent  white 
people  of  the  country,  and  their  doom  is  sealed.  (Ap 
plause.)  But  fellow-citizens,  there  are  others  here  from 
whom  it  is  your  right  to  hear.  (Cries ,  of  4  Go  on,1 
4  go  on.1]  There  are  gentlemen  here  who  have  been 
but  recently  nominated  for  high  positions  in  your  State 
— gentlemen  who  I  believe  will  be  elected  by  the  peo 
ple  of  the  State — and  they  have  a  right  to  be  heard, 
and  you  have  a  right  to  expect  that  I  will  give  way 
for  them.  Having  claimed  your  attention  for  the 
lenoth  of  time  I  have,  I  now  surrender  it  to  men  from 

D  ' 

your  own  State,  after  thanking  you  for  your  very  kind 
attention  to  me." 

At  St.  Joseph,  a  few  days  later,  in  reply  to  a  sere 
nade  from  the  citizens,  Gen.  Blair  said : 

32 


498  LIFE    OF   FRANCIS    P.  BLAIR,  JR. 

"GENTLEMEN  OF  ST.  JOSEPH:  In  addressing  the 
large  and  enthusiastic  audience  before  me  I  shall  not 
insult  you  by  calling  you  '  fellows,'  or  by  advising  you 
to  throw  a  man  in  the  river,  who  happens  to  differ  in 
opinion  regarding  the  sentiments  expressed,  as  I  under 
stand  has  been  done  by  a  distinguished  military  gentle 
man  in  this  place  upon  a  recent  occasion.  I  believe 
this  to  be  a  free  country,  and  that  the  people  will  treat 
those  with  respect  who  respect  the  people.  Our  ob 
jection  to  the  principles  of  our  adversaries  in  this 
great  political  campaign  is  that  they  assume  too  dicta 
torial  a  tone  towards  the  people.  They  denounce  me 
as  a  revolutionist — say  that  I  wish  to  inaugurate  an 
other  rebellion — because  I  say  it  is  time  for  the  rule 
of  the  bayonet  to  be  checked.  (Great  applause.)  The 
people  of  the  State  of  Missouri  and  the  people  of  the 
whole  country,  are  tired  of  being  bound  to  obey  the 
dictates  of  their  military  commanders.  We  believe  it 
is  time  for  the  will  of  the  people  to  be  carried  out. 
This  will  be  done.  (A  voice—'  We'll  fix  that  in  No 
vember.')  Yes,  we  will  settle  that  in  November,  and 
we  will  do  it  peaceably  by  the  ballot.  The  people  are 
now  fully  aroused  and  none  of  these  men  will  dare  to 
defy  the  will  of  the  people.  Those  who  attempt  it 
will  come  to  grief,  and  it  is  time  they  should  come  to 
grief.  Unless  checked  they  will  go  on  until  they  es 
tablish  negro  suffrage  over  this  State  and  the  Northern 
States,  as  they  already  have  in  ten  States  of  this 
Union.  They  will  extend  a  military  despotism  over 
all  the  States  and  negro  supremacy,  as  far  as  the  peo 
ple  will  allow  it.  This  fragmentary  Congress,  and  the 


SPEECH    AT    ST.  JOSEPH.  499 

carpet-baggers  that  have  got  into  the  Senate  under  the 
auspices  of  this -Rump,  have  already  attempted  to  de 
grade  the  white  men  of  all  the  States  to  a  condition  of 
inferiority  to  the  negro.  This  is  the  main  issue.  The 
people  have  decided  in  all  those  States  where  they 
have  enjoyed  the  privilege  of  a  free  vote,  that  this 
thing  cannot  be ;  and  I  tell  you  that  the  will  of  the 
people  shall  be  carried  out  in  spite  of  the  designs  of 
these  ambitious  men  who  have  trampled  the  Constitu 
tion  under  their  feet,  and  a  Republican  form  of  govern 
ment  shall  be  guaranteed  to  the  people  of  the  South 
ern  as  well  as  of  the  Northern  States.  But  we  are  told 
that  even  if  the  Democratic  party  elect  their  President, 
and  a  majority  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  that 
these  carpet-baggers  who  assume  to  constitute  a  ma 
jority  of  the  Senate,  will  defeat  legislation,  and  will 
impose  this  ignorant  and  semi-barbarous  race  of  negroes 
upon  the  country  as  the  superior  of  the  white  man. 
Let  them  dare  to  do  it,  and  they  will  find  that  the  more 
than  one  million  majority  of  voters  who  are  opposed 
to  this  scheme  will  make  it  impossible  for  them  to  per 
petuate  such  an  atrocious  outrage  upon  American  citi 
zens.  The  people  have  risen  in  their  might  every 
where,  from  Maine  to  California,  and  have  by  their 
votes,  said  they  will  not  have  this  negro  supremacy 
kept  up  in  this  country.  They  will  not  be  shaken  in 
this  purpose  to  turn  aside  the  bayonet  that  is  still  kept 
pointed  at  the  throats  of  the  white  men  of  the  South. 
Neither  will  the  Radical  party  in  its  hopeless  minority, 
be  able  to  defeat  the  will  of  the  people.  I  feel  an 
abiding  confidence  in  the  success  of  the  Democratic 


500  LIFE    OF   FRANCIS    P.  BLAIR,  JR. 

party  to-day,  because  it  is  right.  Thanking  you,  gen 
tlemen,  for  your  very  kind  and  attentive  audience,  I 
bid  you  farewell." 

The  nomination  of  Gen.  Blair  has  given  entire  satis 
faction  to  all  Conservative  men  throughout  the  country. 
His  high  qualities  of  head  and  heart,  together  with  the 
brilliant  military  reputation  won  by  him  during  the 
war,  have  made  him  a  favorite  with  all.  In  place  of 
any  estimate  of  our  own,  we  subjoin  the  following 
summary  of  his  character,  taken  from  the  Buffalo 
Courier,  of  July  10th.  It  is  so  just  and  complete  that 
we  prefer  it  to  any  comments  of  our  own : 

u  What  moderate,  discerning,  patriotic  Republican, 
conscious  of  the  mediocrity  of  Grant  in  all  that  con 
cerns  affairs  of  State,  and  of  the  inane  shallowness  of 
Colfax  in  every  thing,  can  ignore  the  services  of 
'Young  Frank  Blair'  in  Missouri?  He  came,  so  to 
speak,  from  the  political  loins  of  Andrew  Jackson,  who 
sent  for  his  father,  Francis  P.  Blair,  senior,  to  edit  the 
Jacksonian  organ  at  Washington,  at  the  time  when 
Calhoun  and  the  nullifiers  had  struck  hands  with  the 
consolidationists  to  drive  '  Old  Hickory '  from  his  post 
as  the  steadfast  defender  of  the  Union  and  the  laws. 
Mr.  Blair,  the  father,  still  lives  in  honored  competence 
at  Silver  Springs,  Maryland,  just  outside  of  the  Dis 
trict  of  Columbia,  and  bis  farm  is  yet  the  political 
homestead  of  the  brothers  Frank  and  Montgomery, 
the  latter  the  valued  and  trusted  cabinet  minister  of 
Abraham  Lincoln;  the  former  the  undisputed  and 
heroic  savior  of  Missouri  from  the  secession  conspiracy. 
Francis  P.  Blair,  Jr.,  inheriting  all  the  patriotism  and 


SKETCH    OF    GEN.  BLAIR.  501 

political  sagacity  of  his  father,  early  threw  himself 
into  the  better  politics  of  Missouri.  At  the  outbreak 
of  the  war  he  represented  the  Union  element  of  the 
State  in  Congress,  and  by  his  honesty  and  regard  for 
the  rights  of  adopted  as  well  as  native-born  citizens, 
had  won  from  the  German  population  of  St.  Louis  a 
confidence  which  he  never  betrayed,  and  which  gained 
for  the  army  of  the  Union  a  class  of  its  earliest  and 
truest  soldiers.  There  is  not  either  an  honest  Con 
federate  or  Federal  in  Missouri  to-day  who  presumes  to 
doubt  that,  but  for  young  Frank  Blair,  the  greatest 
State  west  of  the  Mississippi  river  would  have  gone  as 
a  unit  for  secession.  We  have  not  at  hand  the  com 
plete  data  to  make  up  General  Blair's  brilliant  military 
record.  We  remember,  however,  that  in  one  of  the 
first  months  of  the  war  he  was  at  the  head  of  a  regi 
ment  he  had  raised,  and  assisted  in  driving  Sterling 
Price  and  the  Confederate  army  beyond  the  confines  of 
Missouri.  In  August,  1862,  he  had  earned  a  brigadier- 
generalship  and  a  prominent  place  among  the  leaders 
of  that  great  army  of  the  Southwest  which  clove  the 
heart  of  the  rebellion  and  at  last  issued  with  Sherman 
in  the  Carolinas.  Gen.  Frank  Blair  was  thus,  from  the 
beginning  of  the  war  to  its  end,  one  of  those  heroes  to 
which  the  rough  school  of  border  warfare  gave  birth. 
There  were  few  fields,  indeed,  between  St.  Louis  and 
Richmond  in  which  he  was  not  a  brilliant  and  promi 
nent  officer.  When  the  great  army  of  the  West  made 
its  triumphal  march  into  Washington  at  the  close  of  the 
war,  he  was  at  the  head  of  one  of  its  most  magnificent 
corps  cParmee.  He  entered  the  national  capital  as  a 


502  LIFE    OF    FRANCIS    P.  BLAIR,  JR. 

conqueror,  where  his  father  but  a  sliort  generation  be 
fore  had  appeared  as  an  obscure  but  valiant  editor 
summoned  to  do  battle  with  his  pen  for  the  Union  and 
Constitution.  The  gallant  General,  though  already 
conscious  of  his  great  inherited  power  in  statecraft, 
from  the  moment  of  the  breaking  out  of  the  war 
abandoned  the  field  of  politics,  except  in  so  far  as,  to 
cope  with  the  secession  wiles  of  Gov.  Claiborne  Jack 
son,  the  methods  of  the  politician  were  necessary.  It 
was  not  till  the  true  purposes  of  the  war  had  been 
perverted  and  extreme  Radicalism  had  seized  on  the 
spoils  of  victory,  that  we  find  General  Blair  taking 
formal  issue  with  the  Radical  party.  He  has  since 
been  as  earnest  for  the  perfect  restoration  of  the  Union 
by  peaceful  and  conciliatory  measures,  as  formerly  he 
was  prompt  in  its  vindication  by  the  sword.  In  his 
nomination  no  political  caucus  made  use  of  his  name 
and  fame  to  serve  factional  ends.  He  was  the  sponta 
neous  choice  of  both  the  soldier  and  civilian  elements' 
of  the  Democratic  party,  and  his  strength  at  the  West 
will  be  found  to  equal  that  of  Governor  Seymour  in 
the  East.  The  prominent  qualities  of  General  Blair 
are  sagacity,  personal  devotion,  coolness  and  daring  in 
the  field  of  battle,  and  that  conservative  knowledge 
of  time  and  tide  which  makes  him  as  prompt  to  resist 
Jacobinism  as  to  oppose  secession.  He  has  also  a 
chivalric  element  in  his  character  which  has  often 
won  him  friends  out  of  the  ranks  of  his  enemies. 
Wade  Hampton,  'the  Southern  Murat,'  and  the 
best  soldiers  of  the  Confederate  army,  now  hail  his 
nomination  with  such  a  heartiness  of  enthusiasm  as 


A    GLOWING   TRIBUTE.  503 

only  could  come  of  that  respect  which  springs  up  be 
tween  brave  enemies  in  hard-fought  fields.  With  the 
name  of  Francis  P.  Blair  on  our  banner,  who  shall  say 
that  the  Democratic  party  is  not  the  party  of  the 
Union?  and  if  service  to  the  country  be  a  test  of 
fitness  for  high  office,  will  our  opponents  care  to  put 
Colfax,  the  plausible  speaker,  in  the  scale  of  com 
parison  with  Blair,  the  Western  soldier." 


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